coven

American  

[kuhv-uhn, koh-vuhn] / ˈkʌv ən, ˈkoʊ vən /

noun

covens plural

1. an assembly of witches, especially a group of thirteen.

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coven British  

/ ˈkʌvən /

noun

1. a meeting of witches

2. a company of 13 witches

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• covens
  plural

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

Mr Hamson, who now lives in Coven, in Staffordshire, said learning more about his background had made him become a "much nicer chap".

From BBC • Sep. 9, 2024

As for what’s next, Connor is set to star in a new horror-thriller, “One of Us,” and Locke recently shot “Agatha: Coven of Chaos,” Marvel’s “WandaVision” spinoff.

From New York Times • Jul. 29, 2023

For Bree Coven, “Alki Beach is like a mini vacation here at home.”

From Seattle Times • Jul. 18, 2023

And Kathryn Hahn is currently practicing the dark arts for her upcoming Marvel series, “Agatha: Coven of Chaos,” after having finished up the gripping Hulu drama “Tiny Beautiful Things.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2023

Coven houses had luxurious guest rooms with showers and any kind of beauty treatment or ointment you could want for their members.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega