Sorcery is magic worked with the help of dark powers. Accused of sorcery, practise sorcery, a work of sorcery.
It differs from witchcraft mainly by tradition and by who is accused: sorcery tends to imply learned technique and deliberate summoning, and witchcraft an inherited or innate power. Both were capital offences across Europe for centuries. In fantasy fiction, a sorcerer is usually a practitioner of innate magic against a wizard's studied kind, though every author reassigns them. Note sorcerer and sorceress.
1nounsorceryMagic worked with the help of dark powers.
“In the story, the wicked queen uses sorcery to put the princess to sleep.”
sorcery is a practice of magic.
Old French sorcerie comes from Latin sors, a lot or fate — a sorcerer was originally somebody who cast lots to tell the future. The dark powers were added by the church.
Proto-Indo-European
*ser- — to bind
Latin
sors — fate
Middle French
sorcerie
Middle English
sorcery
English, today
sorcery
From Middle English sorcery, borrowed from Middle French sorcerie, ultimately derived from Latin sors (“fate”), from Proto-Indo-European ser- (“to bind”). Cognate with serō, seriēs, sermō. Compare also French sorcier.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA