coven
Americannoun
noun
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a meeting of witches
-
a company of 13 witches
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of coven
1500–10 for sense “assembly”; 1655–65 for current sense; variant of obsolete covent assembly, religious group, convent
Explanation
A group of witches is called a coven. In books, a coven of witches often gather at night to make potions and cast spells. The mythology of witches has them meeting under cover of night, often in mysterious groups of 13. Although there are only three of them, the "weird sisters" in Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" could be considered a coven. To people who follow the contemporary religion called Wicca, a coven is a gathering, no different from a congregation in Christianity. The word coven arose in the mid-1600s, ultimately from the Latin root conventus, "assembly."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Coven in Minnesota started in 2018 as a women-only space after a successful crowdfunding campaign and now has four spaces.
From BBC • Apr. 23, 2024
Finn Coven says to come prepared with measurements.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 17, 2023
American Horror Story's "Coven" has Rice to thank for this.
From Salon • Jan. 29, 2023
It was recently announced that Plaza would join the cast of “Agatha: Coven of Chaos,” Marvel’s upcoming “WandaVision” spinoff series featuring Kathryn Hahn as the titular witch.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 27, 2022
The Coven found dark allies among the fey—cave efrits, ghuls, wraiths.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
