coven

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkʌv.ən/^[1]

Etymology

It is a variant of obsolete covent “assembly; religious community”,^[2][3][4][5] an earlier form of convent,^[2][3][4][5] preserved in the name of Covent Garden.^[3] This is from Old French covent, from Latin conventus “assembly”.^[4] Merriam-Webster instead takes it from Middle English covin “agreement, confederacy”, from Medieval Latin convenium.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A meeting, gathering or assembly (1500–20).^[3][4][7]

Semantic evolution

The sense of a gathering or band of witches is recorded from 1662,^[3][4][7] in the confession of Isobel Gowdie, who said there were thirteen persons in each coven.^[4] The form and the witch sense arose in Scotland and were popularized by Walter Scott's Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft (1830).^[4] Merriam-Webster also gives a sense of any group with similar interests.^[6][1]

Timeline

• 13th century – covent, a religious community.^[4]
• 1500–20 – an assembly or meeting.^[3][7]
• 1662 – a gathering of witches.^[3][4][7]
• 1830 – popularized by Walter Scott.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An assembly or band of witches, traditionally thirteen.
2. A group of people with similar interests or activities; a clique.

Related words

• convent
• covenant
• convene

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press