witch

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wɪt͡ʃ/^[1]

Etymology

inherited from Middle English wicche, inherited from Old English wicce (“female magician, sorceress”), the feminine of Old English wicca “sorcerer, wizard”.^[2][3][4][1] Both nouns come from the verb wiccian “to practise witchcraft”.^[2][4][1] The spelling with -t- is a modern convention reflecting the pronunciation.^[4]

Further back the origin is uncertain.^[2] The American Heritage Dictionary, following Watkins, links it to the Proto-Indo-European root *weg- “to be strong, be lively”.^[5][2] Others connect it with Old English wīglian “to divine” and wīg “idol”, and perhaps with Old High German wīh and Gothic weihs “holy”;^[4][3][2] Wiktionary relates it to a root *weyk- “to consecrate, separate”, the source of Latin victima “sacrificial victim”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English wicca, a man who practises magic, is recorded about 890,^[6][4] and wicce, a woman who does so, about 1000.^[6][4] The laws of King Alfred (c. 890) already single out witchcraft as a woman's craft, ordering that such women not be allowed to live.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word could be used of men as well as women,^[6][1] but it came to mean above all a woman supposed to have dealings with the devil or evil spirits.^[6][2] From the 18th century it was also used admiringly of a bewitching young woman,^[6] and disparagingly of an ugly or spiteful old one.^[3][7] The figurative witch hunt, a campaign against people with unpopular views, dates from 1938.^[4] It is now also used by followers of Wicca.^[5][3][1]

Timeline

• c. 890 – Old English wicca, “sorcerer”.^[6][4]
• c. 1000 – wicce, “sorceress”; verb wiccian, “to practise witchcraft”.^[6][4]
• about 1250 – Middle English wiche.^[4]
• 1546 – witchery.^[4]
• 1740 – “bewitching young woman”.^[6]
• 1885 – witch hunt, literally.^[4]
• 1938 – witch hunt, figuratively.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person, especially a woman, believed to practise magic, often with the help of evil spirits.
2. A follower of Wicca.
3. An ugly or unpleasant old woman.
4. A charming or alluring woman or girl.

Verb

1. To put a spell on; to bewitch.
2. To search for underground water with a divining rod.

Word family

• witchery
• witchy
• witchlike
• witchhood
• bewitch
• water-witch
• witchcraft

Related words

• wizard
• warlock
• wicked
• Wicca
• hag

References

1. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. [1] [2] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. [1] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House