witch
Pluralwitches
Pluralwitches
Formswitches, witching, witched
- 1A person, now usually a woman, who uses magic or other supernatural powers to influence or predict events.
The townspeople accused her of being a witch after their cattle fell sick.
In the old tales, witches could turn themselves into cats and slip out at night.
UsageFor a man, warlock or sorcerer is more common, though witch can be used.
Similarsorceress, enchantress, sorcerer
Note
Old English had two words where modern English has one: wiċċe for a woman who practiced sorcery and wiċċa for a man, both from wiċċian, “to practice sorcery”. Witch descends from both, yet it has settled mostly on women; Rollo Ahmed wrote in 1936 that it came to be applied almost exclusively to them.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Old English had feminine wiċċe and masculine wiċċa. en.wikipedia.org
- Both nouns derive from wiċċian, meaning to practice sorcery. en.wiktionary.org
- Modern witch descends from both Old English nouns. en.wiktionary.org
- Ahmed wrote that witch became applied almost exclusively to women. en.wiktionary.org
- Ahmed's cited work, The Black Art, was first published in 1936. openlibrary.org
- 2A person who follows Wicca or a similar New Age pagan belief system.
As a practicing witch, she keeps a small altar at home and marks the solstices with her coven.
Modern witches often gather outdoors for seasonal rituals.
Note
Here the word is a self-description rather than an accusation, and some practitioners capitalize it like a title of membership: Edain McCoy writes that becoming a Witch of a particular tradition means initiation by someone within it. It also works as a modifier, as in the neopagan witch traditions described in a 2019 collection edited by Trevor Greenfield.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- McCoy writes that recognition as a Witch of a particular tradition requires initiation by someone within that tradition. en.wiktionary.org
- The cited 2019 collection contains the phrase neopagan witch traditions. en.wiktionary.org
- The cited collection was published in 2019. collectiveinkbooks.com
- 3An insulting word for a woman regarded as ugly, spiteful or unpleasant, sometimes used as a milder stand-in for bitch.
He described his landlady as a sour-faced old witch who never fixed anything.
The children hid whenever the mean old witch across the street came out to yell at them.
UsageOften with old: an old witch, a mean old witch.
Similarhag, shrew, harridan, harpy
Note
The insult takes the storybook picture of the witch, old, ugly and spiteful, and aims it at a real woman. It also works as a softened stand-in for the ruder word it rhymes with, and the two are easy to hear together.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Traditional witch imagery depicts an old, ugly and malicious woman. production.english-heritage.org.uk
- The euphemistic substitution of witch for bitch exploits their rhyme. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 4A person inclined to mischief, especially a woman or child.
Their youngest was a cheeky little witch, forever hiding her father's keys and giggling while he searched.
"Give me back my keys, you little witch," he said, grinning at his niece.
UsageUsually little witch, said fondly or teasingly.
- 5A person with an unusually strong power to attract and charm others.
Every man at the dinner was under the spell of the young witch at the head of the table.
He called her a lovely witch, half in love already after one dance.
UsageMake the praise clear from the context, because witch can also be an insult.
Similarenchantress, siren, charmer, temptress
- 6To look for underground water by dowsing, using a forked stick or rod.
Before drilling, the farmer hired a neighbor to witch for water along the fence line.
She witched for a well with a forked willow branch, and the rod dipped near the old oak.
UsageUsually witch for something: witch for water, witch for a well.
Similardowse
Note
The craft is called water witching, and it belongs to folk practice: someone walks the ground with a stick, dogwood in Helen Ayers's telling (2006), to choose where a well should go. The verb usually takes for, as in witch for water or witch for a well, though Hilda E. Webb (1964) records a speaker who simply witched one, meaning a vein, for the house.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Water witching is a name for dowsing and belongs to folklore. forestry.alabama.gov
- A practitioner walks over the ground with a stick to select a well site. usgs.gov
- The passage attributed to Helen Ayers mentions a dogwood stick. en.wiktionary.org
- 7To put a spell on someone or something; to bewitch. An older use meaning simply to practice witchcraft is obsolete.
Note
This verb goes back to Old English wiċċian, closely tied to the noun for a spell-caster, though which came first is disputed. Its sense of practicing witchcraft is obsolete, but to witch someone, meaning to bewitch them, still turns up in fiction and in accounts of folk belief. The verb for searching for water with a stick is a different, later verb, made from the noun.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The verb descends from Old English wiċċian. en.wiktionary.org
- The verb and the spell-caster noun are etymologically connected, but the direction of derivation is disputed. en.wiktionary.org
- The sense meaning to practise witchcraft is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
- The water-divining verb has a separate derivation from the noun. en.wiktionary.org
- 8In geometry, a particular curve of the third order, which Maria Agnesi described under the name versiera.
- 9A flatfish of the North Atlantic, Glyptocephalus cynoglossus, also called the witch flounder or Torbay sole.
- 10The megrim, Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis, a flatfish of the North Atlantic.
- 11A storm petrel, a small seabird.
- 12A flatfish, Arnoglossus scapha (also classified as Caulopsetta scapha), found in the waters around New Zealand.
- 13A butterfly of the Indomalayan region, Araotes lapithis, belonging to the family Lycaenidae.
- 14A paper cone stood in a container of lard or other fat and lit to serve as a taper.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
The noun reached English through Middle English wicche, continuing Old English wiċċe (a female witch or sorceress) and wiċċa (a male witch, sorcerer or warlock). The usual explanation derives these nouns from wiċċian, meaning "to practice sorcery," although some scholars suggest that the verb came from the noun instead. One proposed ancestry traces wiċċian through Proto-Germanic *wikkōną to Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, formed from *weyk- ("to consecrate, separate"). Comparisons include Dutch wikken ("to dowse, divine") and Latin victima ("sacrificial victim"). A connection with wicked is possible. The modern verb witch meaning "to dowse" was formed from the noun.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 9 facts
- The noun passed through Middle English wicche from Old English feminine wiċċe and masculine wiċċa, with the stated meanings. en.wiktionary.org
- The conventional explanation derives the nouns from wiċċian, meaning to practise sorcery. en.wikipedia.org
- The reverse derivation, forming the verb from the noun, has also been proposed. en.wiktionary.org
- One proposed ancestry connects wiċċian with Proto-Germanic *wikkōną and a nasal formation from PIE *weyk-. en.wiktionary.org
- The proposed PIE root has meanings involving separation and consecration. en.wiktionary.org
- Dutch wikken is compared with witch and glossed as dowsing or divining. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin victima, meaning sacrificial victim, is included in the proposed comparison. en.wiktionary.org
- A relationship with wicked is possible. en.wiktionary.org
- The dowsing verb witch derives from the noun. en.wiktionary.org
Old English wiċċian became Middle English wicchen. It goes back to Proto-Germanic *wikkōną and then to Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, itself derived from *weyk-. Meanings that appeared in Middle English or later probably come from bewitch, shortened by the loss of its first syllable.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Middle English wicchen descends from Old English wiċċian. en.wiktionary.org
- The verb descends from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną. en.wiktionary.org
- Proto-Germanic *wikkōną derives from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, itself derived from *weyk-. en.wiktionary.org
- The senses arising in Middle English and later probably derive from bewitch through loss of its initial syllable. en.wiktionary.org