witch
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: wĭch
ipa: /wɪt͡ʃ/
rhymes: -ɪtʃ
homophone: which (wine–whine merger)
homophone: wich
homophone: wych
Forms: form: witches
Etymology: The noun is from Middle English wicche, from Old English wiċċe (“witch (female), sorceress”) and wiċċa (“witch (male), sorcerer, warlock”), deverbative from wiċċian (“to practice sorcery”), from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną (compare West Frisian wikje, wikke (“to foretell, warn”), German Low German wicken (“to soothsay”), Dutch wikken, wichelen (“to dowse, divine”)), from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk- (“to consecrate; separate”); akin to Latin victima (“sacrificial victim”), Lithuanian viẽkas (“life-force”), Sanskrit विनक्ति (vinákti, “to set apart, separate out”). Possibly related to wicked; see that entry for more. The verb derives from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: He cannot abide the old woman of Brentford; he swears she's a witch.
ref: c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
text: It was easy to understand that they were witches, who had turned themselves into ravens.
ref: 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 186:
text: However, the word "witch" came to be applied almost exclusively to women who were believed to achieve their power by making a blood pact with the Devil, sealed with their blood. They were usually old and ugly, and for this reason many unfortunate old ladies, whose only crimes were loneliness and a lack of beauty, went to the stake.
ref: 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 106:
glosses: A person (now usually particularly a woman) who uses magical or similar supernatural powers to influence or predict events.
examples: text: To be considered a Witch of a particular tradition you will have to be initiated into that tradition by someone else within that tradition, after following their specific program of study.
ref: 2013 November 8, Edain McCoy, If You Want to be a Witch: A Practical Introduction to the Craft, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN:
text: For many neopagan witch traditions the moon is seen as both a symbol of the Goddess and of the witch's power, symbolically, and the belief is that the full moon is the best time for all acts of magic.
ref: 2019 March 29, Trevor Greenfield, Pagan Portals - What is Modern Witchcraft?: Contemporary Developments in the Ancient Craft, John Hunt Publishing, →ISBN:
glosses: A woman who follows Wicca or similar New Age pagan beliefs.
examples: text: I hate that old witch.
glosses: An ugly or unpleasant woman.
glosses: One who exercises more-than-common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person.
glosses: One given to mischief, especially a woman or child.
topics: geometry
mathematics
sciences
glosses: A certain curve of the third order, described by Maria Agnesi under the name versiera.
glosses: A storm petrel.
glosses: Any of a number of flatfish of species:
Glyptocephalus cynoglossus, the witch flounder or Torbay sole, found in the North Atlantic.
glosses: Any of a number of flatfish of species:
Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis (megrim), found in the North Atlantic.
glosses: Any of a number of flatfish of species:
Arnoglossus scapha, found near New Zealand.
glosses: An Indomalayan butterfly, of Araotes lapithis, of the family Lycaenidae.
Synonyms: sense: person who uses magic
word: magician
sense: female magic user
word: wizardess
sense: female magic user
word: sorceress
sense: male magic user
word: wizard
sense: male magic user
word: sorcerer
sense: male magic user
word: warlock
sense: an ugly or unpleasant woman
word: old woman
word: ugly woman
word: shrew
sense: a fish (both types)
word: white sole
Derived terms: word: as nervous as a witch
word: bewitch
word: black witch
word: cold as a witch's tit
word: half-witch
word: hedge witch
word: kitchen witch
word: man-witch
word: nonwitch
word: shadow witch
word: steppe-witch
word: water-witch
word: white witch
word: wind-witch
word: witch alder
word: witch ball
word: Witchblr
word: witch bottle
word: witchcamp
word: witchcraft
word: witch craze
word: witch cult
word: witch doctor
word: witch doctress
word: witchdom
word: witch-elm
word: witch elm
word: witcher
word: witchery
word: witches' besom
word: witches' brew
word: witches' butter
word: witches' cauldron
word: witches' knickers
word: witches' Sabbath
word: witches' stone
word: witchfinder
word: witch-finder
word: witchfinding
taxonomic: Glyptocephalus cynoglossus
word: witch flounder
word: witch grass
word: witchgrass
word: witch hat
word: witch-hazel cone gall
word: witch-hazel cone gall aphid
word: witch hazel
word: witch-hazel
word: witch house
word: witch hunter
word: witch-hunting
word: witch hunt
word: witch-hunt
word: witch-hunty
word: witching hour
word: witchish
word: witchkind
word: witch-knot
word: witch ladder
word: witchlet
word: witchlike
word: witchling
word: witch-meal
word: witch moth
word: witch of Agnesi
word: Witch of November
word: witch-ridden
word: witch's bells
word: witch's besom
word: witch's bridle
word: witch's broom
word: witch's egg
word: witch's hair
word: witch's ladder
word: witch-smeller
word: witch's milk
word: witch's moneybags
word: witchspirit
word: witch's stirrup
word: witch's teat
word: witch's thimble
word: witch stone
word: witch's water
word: WitchTok
word: witchweed
word: witch window
word: witchy