water witchn.
/ˈwɔːtə wɪtʃ/, U.S. /ˈwɔdər ˌwɪtʃ/, /ˈwɑdər ˌwɪtʃ/ 1. A witch who inhabits or is associated with water.
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the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > inhabiting water
water witch1599
1599 J. Weever Epigrammes sig. E2 This water-witch a patch hath forth rheume.
1644 J. Taylor (title page) A Dog's Elegy, or Rvpert's Tears, For the late Defeat given him at Marston-Moore... Likewise the strange breed of this Shagg'd Cavalier, whelp'd of a Malignant Water-witch.
a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 77 A Water-witch with Charms Could sink their Men of War, as easy as Storms.
1716 M. Davys Northern Heiress iii. 40 She has pull'd the poor Toad about the House, and sous'd her with a Mug of Small Beer that stood upon the Dresser, 'till she looks like a Water-Witch.
1764 T. Bridges Homer Travestie II. x. 224 But he can stop 'em with a twitch, 'Cause 'got upon a water witch.
1830 J. F. Cooper Water Witch II. v. 91 What have we to do with land-witches, or water-witches, or any other witchcraft?
1877 W. Black Green Pastures & Piccadilly III. ii. 25 Presently we found ourselves in a sort of water-witch's paradise. Far below us boiled that hell-cauldron of white smoke.
1942 R. Brown & B. Brown Amazing Amazon xxxii. 308 Desiccated slabs of fish and ears of corn past the eating stage, but still good enough perhaps to mollify some evil water-witch goddess.
2010 K. Gray Daisy & Trouble with Maggots viii. 53 My mum..said there were absolutely no sharks or whales or trolls or mermaids or water witches in Paper Mill river at all.
2.
a. North American. Any of various diving waterbirds, esp. grebes (family Podicipedidae).
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the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > [noun] > order Gariidae (divers and loons) > miscellaneous types of
water witch1709
ember1744
the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > [noun] > order Podicipediformes (grebes) > miscellaneous types of
arsefoot1598
water witch1709
the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > [noun] > order Podicipediformes (grebes) > podiceps cristatus (crested grebe)
cargoose1677
loon1678
water witch1709
great crested grebe1873
muffler1889
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Cinclidae > cinclus mexicanus
ouzel1611
water ouzel1622
water witch1709
1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 151 Water-Witch, or Ware-Coots, are a Fowl with Down and no Feathers.
1773 G. F. Norton Let. 20 Nov. in John Norton & Sons (1968) 362 The water witch Skins were spoiled, & discolour'd.
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Dipper, a small aquatic bird, common throughout the United States, also called the Water-witch and Hell-diver.
1862 E. Coues & D. W. Prentiss in Rep. Smithsonian Inst. 1861 419 Podiceps cristatus..Crested Grebe. ‘Water Witch’.
1899 C. B. Cory Birds E. North Amer. i. 132 Colymbus auritus Linn. Horned Grebe. Water Witch.
1995 W. H. Turner Chesapeake Boyhood (1997) 230 Along with the ducks were about five pied-billed grebes or water witches, as they are locally called.
b. A storm petrel (family Hydrobatidae). Now rare.
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the world > animals > birds > order Procellariiformes > [noun] > member of family Hydrobatidae > procellaria pelagica (stormy petrel)
devil's bird1634
sea-swallow1647
storm-finch1661
assilag1698
storm-bird1752
devil bird1759
Mother Carey's chicken1767
storm finch1768
witch1770
alamootiea1777
stormy petrel1776
water witch1794
spency1813
storm-petrel1833
stilt stormy petrel1884
Tom Tailor1885
1794 J. Boit Log of Union (1981) 18 Saw a Water Witch, Whales etc.
1852 W. Macgillivray Hist. Brit. Birds V. 460 Thalassidroma pelagica. The Common Storm-Petrel. Mother Carey's Chicken. Storm-Finch. Little Petrel. Water-witch.
1888 Amer. Angler 14 July 23/1 This little bird is the Mother Carey's chicken of sailors, and is also called storm-finch and water-witch.
1915 H. Randall in Cape Cod Mag. May 8/2 (title) Song of the Water-Witch (The Stormy-Petrel).
3. North American. A person who searches for underground sources of water using a divining rod or similar technique; a water diviner, a water-finder. Cf. water-witch v.
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the world > the supernatural > the paranormal > [noun] > detection of radiation > detecting subterraneous springs, etc. > rhabdomancy > one who practises
water-finder1656
hydrophantic1729
spring-teller1785
water witch1808
rhabdomancer1817
water diviner1825
rhabdomantist1832
dowser1835
jowser1840
witch1843
water witcher1868
water dowser1873
hydroscopist1885
1808 Kentucky Gaz. 9 Aug. 4/3 The subscriber begs leave to offer his services to those gentlemen, who may think proper to employ him, as a Bletonist, or Water Witch. He has laboured for thirty years, to prove the efficacy of the forked rod.
1890 L. C. Doyle Notches 154 His men had reached a depth of about a hundred and thirty feet without striking water, when there chanced to come along a man known throughout the section as a ‘water-witch’.
1915 Sprague's Jrnl. Maine Hist. May 6 Another prominent ‘water witch’ who operated in Piscataquis county about the middle of the last century, was Elder William F. Gallison.
1970 J. Blackburn Land of Promise ii. 31 It was a common practice..to have a ‘water-witch’ locate the site of a proposed well.
2011 Palm Beach (Florida) Post (Nexis) 11 May 12 d Manuel carved out his own niche in Napa Valley as a water witch.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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