witch

Signification (Anglais)

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.

Concepts

sorcière

sorcier

devin

ensorceler

plie grise

envoûter

plie cynoglosse

ensorceleur-se

magicien

fausse limande

grise

enchanter

harpie

magicienne

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/wɪt͡ʃ/

Étymologie (Anglais)

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.