Etymology: Probably the reflex of an unattested Old English derivative (agent noun) < Old English wiglian wiele v. Compare earlier wieler n.The Old English derivative was apparently a weak agent noun, *wigela (masculine) or *wigele (feminine). In quot. a1350 the person referred to is female, but this does not allow conclusions about gender in Old English; compare discussion at witch n.

Etymology: Cognate with Middle Low German wichelen , Middle Dutch wichelen , wigelen , wijchelen (Dutch wichelen ), all in the sense ‘to practise divination or magic’, further etymology uncertain, perhaps related to the Germanic base of witch v.¹ Compare wiel n., wieler n., and wieling n. Compare also early Middle English biwiȝelien to bewitch (see biwihele v. and compare biwile v.).The original quantity of the stem vowel i in Old English wiglian (and hence the related words) is uncertain and disputed. For the Dutch cognate, variants with long vowel as well as short vowel are attested (compare Middle Dutch wijchelen ). The resulting uncertainty about the quantity of the vowel in the Germanic base poses etymological problems; in particular, a long vowel would be difficult to explain for a word related to witch v.¹ Semantic development. The uses of the West Germanic cognates and (especially) some of their derivatives may suggest that the Germanic base originally referred specifically to divination (as opposed to magic more generally). This sense also survives in Old English in this group of words, although the emphasis appears to have shifted towards magic more generally, and often (from a Christian perspective) with negative connotations. With specific reference to divination compare also compounds such as līcwiglung divination by communicating with the dead, necromancy ( < lich n. + wieling n.), gebyrdwiglere person who makes (astrological) predictions at the birth of a child ( < gebyrd birth (see birde n.) + wieler n.), and also steorwigl study of the stars (especially in astrological contexts) ( < star n.¹ + wiel n.).