witch

Significat (English)

Noun

1. A person who practices witchcraft.
2. A person who practices witchcraft.
3. An ugly or unpleasant woman.
4. One who exercises more-than-common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person.
5. One given to mischief, especially a woman or child.
6. A certain curve of the third order, described by Maria Agnesi under the name versiera.
7. The storm petrel.
8. Any of a number of flatfish:
9. Any of a number of flatfish:
10. Any of a number of flatfish:
11. The Indomalayan butterfly Araotes lapithis, of the family Lycaenidae.

Verb

To dowse for water.

Verb

1. (obsolete) To practise witchcraft.
2. To bewitch.

Synonyms

sorcerer

wizard

sorceress

hag

magician

enchantress

bewitch

hex

evil spirit

shaman

crone

warlock

witch flounder

jinx

vixen

demon

lamia

harridan

enchant

sibyl

glamour

ugly woman

Wiccan

wise woman

shrew

virago

charm

powwow

Torbay sole

gray sole

beldame

beldam

wise man

witchdoctor

ensorcell

supernatural power

do magic

cummer

night-hag

pishogue

craig fluke

pale flounder

torbay sole

grey flounder

pole flounder

female magician

grey-sole

whitch

Craig fluke

witch sole

bag

flet

battle-ax

battle-axe

bedevil

beguile

belch

chant

demoness

devil

diviner

enchanter

enrapture

enthral

fascinate

ghost

👻

harpy

healer

hell-cat

magic

🪄

medium

mesmerize

necromancer

ogress

priest

python

queen

👸

ravish

she-devil

snake

🐍

spell

termagant

vamp

Pronunciat com a (IPA)

/wɪt͡ʃ/

Etimologia (English)

Inherited from anglès mitjà: wicche

Inherited from anglès antic: wiċċe

Cognate with frisó occidental: wikje

Cognate with neerlandès: wikken

Cognate with llatí: victima

Cognate with lituà: viekas

Cognate with sànscrit: विनक्ति

In summary

The noun is from Middle English wicche, from Old English wiċċe (“witch (female), sorceress”) and wiċċa (“witch (male), sorcerer, warlock”), deverbative from wiċċian (“to practice sorcery”), from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną (compare West Frisian wikje, wikke (“to foretell, warn”), German Low German wicken (“to soothsay”), Dutch wikken, wichelen (“to dowse, divine”)), from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk- (“to consecrate; separate”); akin to Latin victima (“sacrificial victim”), Lithuanian viẽkas (“life-force”), Sanskrit विनक्ति (vinákti, “to set apart, separate out”). Possibly related to wicked; see that entry for more.
The verb is from the noun.