witch
/wɪt͡ʃ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.11 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person (now usually particularly a woman) who uses magical or similar supernatural powers to influence or predict events, particularly one with malicious motives.
noun
One who exercises more-than-common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person.
noun
One given to mischief, especially a woman or child.
noun
A storm petrel.
noun
Any of a number of flatfish of species:
Example Sentences
- "He cannot abide the old woman of Brentford; he swears she's a witch."
- "It was easy to understand that they were witches, who had turned themselves into ravens."
- "However, the word "witch" came to be applied almost exclusively to women who were believed to achieve their power by making a blood pact with the Devil, sealed with their blood. They were usually old and ugly, and for this reason many unfortunate old ladies, whose only crimes were loneliness and a lack of beauty, went to the stake."
- "Recently in Sydney we met a male witch who claimed that witchcraft was his full-time occupation."
- "Several of the Leechbook recipes would have done credit to the witches in Macbeth."
- "To be considered a Witch of a particular tradition you will have to be initiated into that tradition by someone else within that tradition, after following their specific program of study."
Etymology
Etymology tree Old English wiċċe Proto-Germanic *wikkōną Proto-West Germanic *wikkōn Proto-Indo-European *-ō Proto-Germanic *-ô Proto-West Germanic *-ō Proto-West Germanic *wikkō Old English wiċċa Middle English wicche English witch The noun is from Middle English wicche, from Old English wiċċe (“(female) witch; sorceress”) and wiċċa (“(male) witch; sorcerer; warlock”), deverbative from wiċċian (“to practice sorcery”), from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną (compare West Frisian wikje, wikke (“to foretell; to warn”), German Low German wicken (“to soothsay”), Dutch wikken, wichelen (“to dowse; to divine”)), from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk- (“to consecrate; to separate”); akin to Latin victima (“sacrificial victim”), Lithuanian viẽkas (“life-force”), Sanskrit वि॒नक्ति॑ (vinákti, “to set apart; to separate out”). Possibly related to wicked; see that entry for more. The verb derives from the noun. The mathematical curve derives from a translation by John Colson of the Italian versiera, from a confusion with versoria (“rope”) and avversaria (“witch”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *weyk-, wicche, wiċċe, *wikkōną, *wik-néh₂-, versiera
Usage
Inflected Forms
witches (plural)
witches (present, singular)
witching (participle, present)
witched (participle, past)
witched (past)
W.I.T.C.H. (alternative)