| 释义 |
white witch, n.
(Also with hyphen.)
[white a. 7 b.]
A witch (or wizard) of a good disposition; one who uses witchcraft for beneficent purposes; one who practises ‘white magic’.
1621Burton Anat. Mel. ii. i. i. i. 289 Sorcerers are too common, Cunning men, Wisards, & white-witches, as they call them, in every village. 1689C. Mather Mem. Provid. (1691) 95 Creatures that they call White Witches, which do only Good-Turns for their Neighbours. 1715Addison Drummer ii. i, The common people call him a wizard, a white-witch. 1746Exmoor Courtship (E.D.S.) 440 Tha Whit Witch. 1806J. Carr Stranger in Irel. 265 The white witch..at Exeter,..who has female agents to whom she has imparted a portion of her magic, in almost every village, who have the property of discovering pilferers and stopping blood. 1855Kingsley Westw. Ho! i, When he had warts or burns, he went to the white witch at Northam to charm them away.
Hence white-witch v. trans. (nonce-wd.), to bewitch by ‘white magic’, or in a beneficent way.
1917Contemp. Rev. Nov. 585 The cows were white-witched. Milk came in such abundance as no memory records. |