The Etymology of J.K. Rowling’s “Auror”

It’s an odd word, auror. According to virtually all the Harry Potter fan sites it means simply “dark wizard catcher”, but that definition is more related to the role than to the word itself.

Most attempts to dissect auror guess that it must relate to the name Aurora, who was a Roman goddess of the dawn. The etymology of ‘aurora’ is very well documented.

The word is believed to be derived from Proto-Indo-European *ausus- (“dawn”). This belief extends back to the 19th century, and perhaps may be one of the oldest philological “facts” in the lexicon.

The word seems (according to that 1875 text) to be similar to or related to words in Hebrew, Welsh, and Armenian that refer to “light, daylight” (Hebrew A.ou.r), “dawn” (Welsh Waour), “day” (Armenian or) and “the sun” (Armenian ar-pi). Even the Nubian word Wurabe (“day”) seems to share some phonetic kinship with *PIE ausus- if you crane your neck enough and wince with your left eye.

The word auror thus seems to be pretty closely associated with light, perhaps the breaking light of dawn — or maybe just the light that pierces the darkness.

So maybe the name auror was devised to refer to the role of the “dark wizard catchers” in terms of being the opposing force. If the bad guys use the Dark Arts, then the good guys must use the Light Arts. Hence, Aurors are the bringers or conveyors or defenders of light. More specifically they defend the light that pierces the darkness (of night).

It’s something to think about, anyway.