witch

[wich]

noun

1. a person, especially a woman, who professes or is supposed to practice magic or sorcery; a sorceress.

   This novel was about a meek businessman marrying a beautiful witch who uses her magic to help him succeed in business.

2. a woman who is supposed to have evil or wicked magical powers.

   The movie features stereotypical witches in black robes and pointed hats.

3. a person who practices magic as a spiritual observance, especially as associated with neopaganism or Wicca.

   She became a witch after an interest in tarot and astrology led her to classes at a local mystic shop.

4. an ugly or mean old woman; hag.

   She was constantly in conflict with the old witch who used to own the building.

5. a person who uses a divining rod; dowser.

   They hired a water witch to find the best location for the new well.

verb (used with object)

1. to bring or cause by or as if by witchcraft (often followed by into, to, etc.).

   She witched him into going.

2. Archaic.,  to affect as if by witchcraft; bewitch; charm.

verb (used without object)

1. to prospect with a divining rod; dowse.

   She witches for water, oil, and minerals, but won't take money for her services.

adjective

1. of, relating to, or designed as protection against witches.

   Bad weather, decreased income, and weak government may have contributed to the witch trial period in Europe.

   A witch bottle contained a number of different objects and ingredients to make up a defensive spell.

witch

¹

/ wɪtʃ /

noun

1. historically, in mythology and fiction, a woman believed to practise magic or sorcery, esp black magic

2. a practitioner of a Nature-based religion founded on ancient beliefs, which honours both a male and female divine principle and includes the practice of magic, esp healing magic, and divination

3. informal,  an ugly or wicked woman

4. a fascinating or enchanting woman

5. short for water witch

verb

1. (tr) to cause or change by or as if by witchcraft

2. a less common word for bewitch

witch

²

/ wɪtʃ /

noun

1. a flatfish, Pleuronectes (or Glyptocephalus ) cynoglossus, of N Atlantic coastal waters, having a narrow greyish-brown body marked with tiny black spots: family Pleuronectidae (plaice, flounders, etc)

witch-

³

prefix

1. having pliant branches

   witchweed

Other Word Forms

• witchhood noun
• witchlike adjective
• underwitch noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of witch¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English wicche, Old English wicce, feminine of wicca “wizard”; wicked

Word History and Origins

Origin of witch¹

Old English wicca; related to Middle Low German wicken to conjure, Swedish vicka to move to and fro

Origin of witch²

C19: perhaps from _witch ¹ , alluding to the appearance of the fish

Origin of witch³

Old English wice and wic; probably from Germanic wik- bend

Example Sentences

“I’ve always been human, and I don’t think witches with fly cloaks exist.”

Read more on Literature

"Wicked: For Good" picks up several years after the first "Wicked," with Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba now living as a rebel in exile, unfairly smeared by all as an evil witch.

Read more on Barron's

“I don’t know who he is. I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that. And I heard it was a Biden witch hunt.”

Read more on Salon

The movie, to be released on 21 November, is the second of a two-part adaptation of the popular Broadway and West End musical Wicked, which centres on the unlikely friendship between two very different witches.

Read more on BBC

Reducing the witches’ brew of tribal conflict, social disintegration, jihadist insurgency and religious violence afflicting that country to a charge of Christian genocide misses the complexity and scale of the horror.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• magician