witchn.

Brit.

/wɪtʃ/, U.S.

/wɪtʃ/

Forms: Old English wicca (masculine), Old English wycc- (inflected form), Old English (feminine and in compounds and derivatives)– wicce, Old English (feminine and in compounds and derivatives)– wycce, early Middle English uiche, Middle English wecches (plural), Middle English wech, Middle English weche, Middle English whiche, Middle English whycche, Middle English whychis (plural), Middle English wichche, Middle English wiecche, Middle English wycch, Middle English wycche, Middle English wychche, Middle English wyche, Middle English wycshe, Middle English–1500s wicche, Middle English–1500s wiche, Middle English–1500s wych, Middle English–1500s wytche, Middle English–1600s wich, Middle English–1700s witche, late Middle English–1600s whitche, late Middle English– witch, 1500s which, 1500s (1800s archaic) wytch, 1800s whitch (English regional (northern)); N.E.D. (1928) also records a form late Middle English wheche; Scottish pre-1700 uiche, pre-1700 veche, pre-1700 vich, pre-1700 vicsche, pre-1700 vische, pre-1700 vitch, pre-1700 vitche, pre-1700 vitche, pre-1700 vyche, pre-1700 vytch, pre-1700 vytche, pre-1700 wech, pre-1700 weche, pre-1700 weiche, pre-1700 wesch, pre-1700 wetche, pre-1700 weyche, pre-1700 which, pre-1700 wicchis (plural), pre-1700 wich, pre-1700 wichches (plural), pre-1700 wiche, pre-1700 wicht, pre-1700 wichth, pre-1700 wisch, pre-1700 wische, pre-1700 witche, pre-1700 witsh, pre-1700 wych, pre-1700 wyche, pre-1700 wycht, pre-1700 wytche, pre-1700 wyttche, pre-1700 1700s– witch, 1800s–1900s whitch, 1800s– wutch.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: < the same Germanic base as the continental Germanic verbs cited at witch v.¹ (see discussion at that entry). Compare Middle Low German wicker , Middle Dutch wicker (Dutch †wikker ), both in the sense ‘soothsayer’, representing derivative formations from the respective verbs. Compare wieler n. and later wiele n.The forms of the word from Middle English onwards reflect palatalization and assibilation of the stem-final geminate in Old English (compare e.g. early Middle English wicche and also the forms of witch v.¹). Although Old English spelling does not regularly indicate the resulting affricate, the occasional spelling of inflected forms of the noun as wiccean supports it. The palatalization may be due to a following j -suffix (weak jan -/jōn -stem). An alternative suggestion that the word reflects earlier Old English witga , a reduced form of witie n. (ultimately < the same Germanic base as wit v.¹) does not account for the presumed Germanic cognates (this suggestion assumes shortening of the stem vowel and affrication of /tj/ to /tʃ/ as seen in e.g. feccan < earlier fetian ; see fetch v. and fet v.). Gender of the word in Old English. In Old English the word is attested both as weak feminine (wicce ) and as weak masculine (wicca ), as well as in inflected forms (chiefly in the plural) that are difficult to assign to either the feminine or the masculine and may be used with indeterminate gender reference. (The weak feminine and weak masculine nouns are distinguished in their inflectional endings only in the nominative singular.) In the attested compounds and derivatives, the word takes the form wicce- as first element (compare witchcraft n., witchdom n.); this may represent the feminine singular ending, but is more likely to show a connecting vowel -e- . Although there is clear evidence for beliefs about female practitioners of magic already in Anglo-Saxon England, it is not clear how strongly the stem wicc- was already associated with female practitioners in early use. Specific senses. With sense 4 compare earlier water witch n. 3. With sense 5 compare slightly earlier Wicca n. In sense 8 representing a mistranslation (in quot. a1760) of Italian †versiera , denoting a curve based on a versed sine (1718, introduced by G. Grandi as an Italian equivalent for his post-classical Latin versoria : see versor n.²), by association with versiera female demon (15th cent; ultimately related to avversario adversary, devil: see adversary n.); in witch of Agnesi with reference to the name of Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–99), the author of the work translated in quot. a1760.

I. Senses denoting a person, esp. one who practises witchcraft or magic, or a supernatural being.

a. A person (in later use typically a woman; see note) who practises witchcraft or magic, esp. of a malevolent or harmful nature.From the Old English period onwards, witch has carried negative connotations of malevolent or harmful magic, but this is complicated by the fact that, according to orthodox Christian belief, practitioners of both benevolent and harmful magic derived their powers (wittingly or otherwise) from the Devil or evil spirits (cf. sense 1b(a)). In the late medieval and early modern period, during a period of heightened fear of witches, it was believed that practitioners of witchcraft had knowingly entered into a compact with such beings (cf. sense 1b(b)). It appears that, in early modern popular usage, witch remained largely restricted to practitioners of harmful magic, while practitioners of benevolent magic were referred to as cunning or wise (see cunning adj. 3, wise adj. 2b). Where witch was applied to all practitioners of magic, a differentiation was made between benevolent white witches and malevolent black witches (see white witch n., black witch n. 1). Subsequent usage displays a wide range of applications, particularly from the 18th cent. onwards when belief in witchcraft declined; portrayals of witches in fiction now typically attribute their powers to special knowledge or innate qualities.Witch is not clearly associated with women more than men in early use, but its employment as a term of abuse or contempt for a woman from the 15th cent. onwards (see sense 3a) suggests that it had begun to be associated particularly with women from at least that date, and the appearance of formations such as he-witch and man-witch around the turn of the 17th cent. indicates that witch was by then commonly understood to denote a woman (although cf. the note at sense 1b(b)). The frequently marginal status of older women (esp. those who were widowed or unmarried) within the community made them especially vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft, particularly if they happened to have knowledge of traditional or folk medicine, a belief that women were more susceptible than men to the Devil being an additional contributing factor. In later use, witch is frequently regarded as the female equivalent of wizard and warlock (both typically denoting a man who practises magic).Popular depictions of witches often show them with distinctive hats (see witch's hat n. 1) and black cloaks, and as possessing the ability to fly, esp. using enchanted objects such as broomsticks. They are often associated with cats and other small animals, which were formerly regarded as familiars (see familiar n. 3a).For further discussion of the development of the meaning of the word, see R. Hutton, ‘The Meaning of the Word “Witch”’, in Magic, Ritual, & Witchcraft 13 (2018) 98–119.In quot. OE¹ wicce denotes a female witch; for a discussion of the gender of the word in Old English see the etymological note.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun]

walkyrieOE

witchOE

hagc1230

strya1300

wise woman1382

sorceressc1384

luller14..

tylyester14..

chantressc1425

magicienne1490

gyre-carline1535

witch-womana1538

eye-biter1584

beldama1586

witch-wife1591

cunning woman1594

saga?a1600

magha1609

magicianess1651

hag-witcha1658

haggard1658

besom-rider1664

wizardess1789

fly-by-night1796

lucky1827

bruja1829

weird-woman1845

hex1856

Baba Yaga1857

pishogue1906

witcher1928

OE Ælfric Homily (Corpus Cambr. 178) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 792 Nu segð se wyrdwritere þæt seo wicce sceolde aræran þa of deaþe þone Drihtnes witegan Samuhel gehaten.

OE Laws of Cnut (Nero) ii. iva. 310 Gif wiccean oððe wigleras, morðwyrhtan oððe horcwenan ahwær on lande wurðan agitene, fyse hig man georne ut of þysum earde, oððon on earde forfaran hig mid ealle.

c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) l. 372 Ich hit am þet spec þurh simunes muð þe wicche.

c1300 St. Lucy (Laud) l. 125 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 104 Þou art strong wichche,..Mine clerkes and mine enchauntours bi-nime schullen þi wichchingue.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3028 Ðe wicches hidden hem, for-ðan Bi-foren pharaun nolden he ben.

?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 121 Iuno the false wycche and sorceresse.

1493 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (Pynson) i. xxxvi. sig. eiiii/2 The wytche worshypeth the feende so highly..Therfore is the feende redy to do the wytches wylle.

a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 115 Ionet the wedo on a bwsum hame rydand, Off wytchis with ane windir garesoun.

1563 N. Winȝet tr. St. Vincent of Lérins For Antiq. Catholike Fayth xxx, in Certain Tractates (1890) II. 63/7 Simon the weche, quha wes strukin be the Apostolis cursing.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) v. iv. 5 See how the vgly Witch doth bend her browes, As if with Circe, she would change my shape.

1712 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 17 June (1948) II. 539 Am I a Laplander, am I witch,..can I make Easterly winds.

1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor vi, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. II. 109 She is a witch that should have been burned with them that suffered at Haddington.

1868 Ld. Tennyson Lucretius 15 She..Dreaming some rival, sought and found a witch Who brew'd the philtre.

2001 M. Gaitskill in Village Voice (N.Y.) 11 Dec. 75/2 A cartoon witch flying through the sky on a broom.

b. spec.

†(a) A (male or female) practitioner of pagan rituals, sacrifices, etc., viewed from a Christian perspective as a worshipper of Satan or evil spirits; a heathen, an infidel. Obsolete.In quot. OE¹ wicca denotes a male witch; for a discussion of the gender of the word in Old English see the etymological note.

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OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 124 Augur, wicca uel ariolus.

OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens Old Eng. Glosses of MS Brussels, Royal Libr. 1650 (1974) 271 Phitonissam : i. diuinatricem, prophetissam, helhrunan uel wiccan.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 40 (MED) Me draȝþ uoulliche þet bodi of oure lhorde, aze doþ þe ereges and þe wychen and þe kueade prestes.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xviii. l. 46 ‘Cru[ci]fige,’ quod a cacchepolle, ‘I warante hym a wicche!’

a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 402 (MED) A man there was of false bileue and a wich, that leuyd not on the sacremente.

c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 169^v The worthy þat wicche [sc. Penthesilea] hase wastid to dethe.

(b) In Europe (and later in European colonies) in the late medieval and early modern period: a person who has broken a law prohibiting the practice of witchcraft. Now historical.Although there had been earlier legislation against witchcraft as a means of committing crime and as a form of heresy (see e.g. quot. OE² at sense 1a), the papal bull ‘Summis desiderantes affectibus’ (1484) is often considered to mark the beginning of a period of heightened fear of witches across Europe, in which the practice of witchcraft came to be regarded as a crime in and of itself. In England (from 1542) and Scotland (from 1563), several pieces of legislation were passed in the 16th and 17th centuries which made witchcraft a felony punishable by death (see witchcraft act n.). A large number of witch trials took place in Britain and (later) British colonies in North America at this time, but towards the end of the 17th cent. the number of such trials declined sharply, and the Witchcraft Act of 1735 made it illegal to claim that a person was a witch, effectively marking the end of this period in Britain and its North American colonies.Less strongly associated with women than sense 1a.

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1566 (title of work) The Examination and Confession of certaine Wytches at Chensforde in the Countie of Essex, before the Quenes maiesties Judges.

1627 R. Bernard Guide Grand-iury Men 240 The examination of that grand Witch, Lewis Gaufredy, before noble Commissioners.

1646 J. Gaule Select Cases Conscience 6 To save the trouble and Charges of the witch-finder, they will undertake to try the Witch of themselves.

1726 D. Defoe Polit. Hist. Devil i. 376 The People of Salem, in New England, pretended..that a black Man tormented them..: This black Man they would have be the Devil, employ'd by the Person whom they accus'd for a Witch.

1919 M. K. Bradby Psycho-anal. iii. ix. 118 Witches were examined during their trials for evidence of their fleshly intercourse with the devil.

2016 D. C. Allison Night Comes v. 107 The zealotic prosecution of supposed witches, who were often tortured to get bogus confessions.

c. Originally: a practitioner of magic in southern Africa, viewed as analogous to a witch in the European tradition. Later also more generally (chiefly Anthropology): a practitioner of (esp. malevolent) magic in other non-Western cultural contexts.With use in the context of southern Africa, cf. witch doctor n. 1b.The research of E. E. Evans-Pritchard into the beliefs of the Zande of central Africa (cf. quot. 1937) played a key role in the development of the concept in anthropology.

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1731 G. Medley tr. P. Kolb Present State Cape Good-Hope I. x. 138 They believe that it is in the Power of their Wizzards or Witches to lay a Spirit, and for ever prevents its Appearing or being troublesome.

1817 G. R. Nyländer Jrnl. 15 Dec. in Proc. Church Missionary Soc. 1818–9 (1819) 255/1 Children speak of seeing spirits, and of knowing something about witch-palaver.

1937 E. E. Evans-Pritchard Witchcraft, Oracles & Magic among Azande vii. 114 All except the noble class and commoners of influential position at court are at one time or another exposed by oracles as having bewitched their neighbours and therefore as witches.

1962 C. M. Turnbull Forest People xiii. 240 The BaLese are considered to be arch-sorcerers and witches.

2010 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 16 728 Witches afflict city-dwellers and business-owners; they help politicians gain power; they stall economic development and drain public resources.

†2. Originally: a female spirit or monster believed to settle on and produce a feeling of suffocation in a sleeping person or animal. Later (with the): a feeling of suffocation or great distress experienced during sleep. Cf. nightmare n. 1a, 2a, and hag n.¹ 5a, 5b. Obsolete.

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the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [noun] > nightmare or nocturnal demon

mareeOE

nightmarec1300

witch1440

night fury1552

incubus1561

night spirit1562

hag1598

ephialtes1601

tenebrio1656

night spectre1707

nocturnal1861

witch-riding1883

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 526 Wytche, clepyd nyghte mare, epialtes.

1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 427/1 Incubus, ephialtes,..a kinde of disease called the night mare or witch.

a. As a term of abuse or contempt for a woman, esp. one regarded as old, malevolent, or unattractive. Cf. hag n.¹ 2a.

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the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [noun]

old wifeeOE

old womanOE

trota1375

carlinec1375

cronec1386

vecke1390

monea1393

hagc1400

ribibec1405

aunt?a1425

crate14..

witchc1475

mauda1500

mackabroine1546

grandam?1550

grannam1565

old lady1575

beldam1580

lucky1629

granny1634

patriarchess1639

runta1652

harridan1699

grimalkin1798

mama1810

tante1815

wifie1823

maw1826

old dear1836

tante1845

Mother Bunch1847

douairière1869

dowager1870

veteraness1880

old trout1897

tab1909

bag1924

crow1925

ma1932

Skinny Liz1940

old bag1947

old boot1958

tannie1958

LOL1960

c1475 (a1449) J. Lydgate Order of Fools (Laud) in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 453 A lusty galaunt that weddit an old wicche.

c1525 J. Rastell New Commodye Propertes of Women sig. Biv^v Thow old which thou bryngyst me in grete dole.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iv. ii. 172 Out of my doore, you Witch, you Ragge, you Baggage, you Poulcat, you Runnion, out, out.

1831 S. T. Coleridge Table-talk 7 July There are only three classes into which all the women past seventy that ever I knew were to be divided:—1. That dear old soul: 2. That old woman: 3. That old witch.

1951 S. H. Bell December Bride (1974) iii. v. 244 Rest, and let that witch fault me for doing no work about the place?

2003 Heat 29 Mar. 107/3 Charlotte hatches a revenge plan involving putting Elaine's head on a porn star, and before you can say ‘money-grabbing witch’, Elaine gets the sack from the bank.

†b. A girl or young woman who is bewitchingly or captivatingly attractive or charming. Obsolete.

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the mind > attention and judgement > attractiveness > [noun] > attractive person > woman

morsela1450

honeypot1618

enchantera1704

peach1710

enchantress1713

sparkler1713

enslaver1728

witch1740

fascinatress1799

honey1843

biscuit1855

fairy1862

baby1863

scorcher1881

cracker1891

peacherino1896

hot tamale1897

mink1899

hotty?1913

babe1915

a bit of skirt1916

cookie1917

tomato1918

snuggle-pup1922

nifty1923

brahma1925

package1931

ginch1934

blonde bombshell1942

beast1946

smasher1948

a bit of crackling1949

nymphet1955

nymphette1961

fox1963

beaver1968

superbabe1970

brick house1977

nubile1977

yummy mummy1993

the mind > will > motivation > attraction, allurement, or enticement > [noun] > fascination or enchantment > one who fascinates or enchants > female

enchantera1704

enchantress1713

witch1740

fascinatress1799

1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xxiv. 67 Mrs. Jervis, said he, take the little Witch from me.

1800 T. D. Whitaker Whalley i. 184 (note) In..1634 was acted..a play entitled The Witches of Lancaster... The term has since been transferred to a gentler species of fascination, which my fair countrywomen still continue to exert in full force.

1845 A. M. Hall Whiteboy I. ix. 137 I own I have abused Miss Ellen, and good right I had—a young witch, driving the world through Heaven's windows.

1888 ‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Children vii. 51 She who had been the blithest little witch he had ever known.

4. U.S. A person who searches for underground sources of water (or sometimes minerals, oil, etc.) using a divining rod or similar technique. Cf. water witch n. 3.

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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

1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase II. lii. 206 We had ceased from digging a well,..although we had employed a great hazel-wizzard;..bringing Mr. Hum, the wizzard (or witch, there so called) to me, the two prevailed on me to go only four feet lower.

1857 D. D. Owen 2nd Rep. Geol. Surv. Kentucky 329 There may be all that the mineral witches declare there is, of lead and silver, but the Mineralogical and Geological signs do not accompany them here.

1963 M. C. Boatright Folklore of Oil Industry vii. 63 He was also something of an oil witch or doodlebug man.

2008 Internat. Herald Tribune (Nexis) 10 Oct. 2 Dowsers have been part of lore for millenniums, and many on the farm today have no doubt that they have special abilities. Richard Cotta..said he vividly remembered the first time he saw a witch.

5. A follower or practitioner of a modern pagan belief system that draws on pre-Christian religious history in its beliefs and rituals. Cf. Wiccan n.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > aspects of faith > theism > paganism > [noun] > person

heathenc1000

Saracenc1250

payenc1275

paynimc1300

wanbody1303

payemec1330

idolaterc1380

gentilea1382

idolasterc1386

miscreantc1400

mammeter?a1425

paganc1440

infidel1470

ethnic?a1475

image server1531

serve-image1531

heathenista1556

image-worshipper1563

Kaffir1577

giaour1589

Baalista1603

idolant1605

idolatress1613

idolist1614

idololatera1641

iconolater1654

Baalite1656

iconodulist1716

irreligionista1779

neopagan1868

iconodule1893

witch1958

society > faith > sect > non-Christian religions > other non-Christian sects > Wicca > [noun] > person

witch1958

Wiccan1971

1958 Daily Herald 28 Oct. 3/6 She is..deputy priestess and Witch Maiden to a coven or group of witches in the North of England... They dance in the nude and practise ancient rites and perform magic.

1964 R. Graves in Virginia Q. Fall 553 Most English witches of my acquaintance are honest idealists.

1972 Collier's Encycl. Year Bk. 1971 10 The ancient rites of the wicca..were practiced in 1971 with no one knows what degree of success by no one knows how many witches in the United States.

2003 New Witch Oct. 55/3 Traditional Wicca or Witchcraft can provide..a sense of continuity and community that many eclectic Witches don't always share.

II. Other uses.

6. figurative and in figurative contexts. Something likened to a witch, esp. something which seems to have (esp. malignant) magical powers.

ΚΠ

1616 T. Gainsford Rich Cabinet f. 95^v Money is the grand witch of the world, which infects all minds, and worketh mischiefe where euer it comes: no Coniurer can allay the euill, that is raised by this deuill.

1650 W. Brough Sacred Princ. 188 Save me from vaine pleasures, the great Witches of the world.

?1708 Brit. Apollo: Q. Paper 1 No. 2. 8/1 The Four of Clubs [is] call'd Wibling's Witch..from one James Wibling, who in the Reign of..James the First, grew Rich by..Gaming, and was commonly observ'd to have the Card..in his Hand.

a1822 P. B. Shelley Let. to — in Posthumous Poems (1824) 63 The quaint witch Memory sees In vacant chairs, your absent images.

2008 Austral. Financial Rev. (Nexis) 15 July 50 ANZ gets theatrical after a witch of a year.

a. Forming names of animals thought to be associated with or to resemble a witch in some way. Chiefly with distinguishing word.black witch, kitty-witch, water witch, etc.: see the first element.Recorded earliest in water witch n. 2a.In quot. 1391 denoting a fish, although it is unclear whether this reflects the same English word.

ΚΠ

1391 in L. T. Smith Exped. Prussia & Holy Land Earl Derby (1894) 42 Et clerico coquine per manus eiusdem pro salmone, wyche, et anguillis salsis ab ipso emptis ibidem, xl marc. xiij scot.]

1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 151 Water-Witch, or Ware-Coots, are a Fowl with Down and no Feathers.

1859 Descriptive Catal. Specimens Nat. Hist. Mus. Royal Coll. Surgeons 26 The Witch (Synanceia horrida, Schneider; Scorpæna horrida, Linn.)... Hab. Indian Ocean; but there is no record from whence the present specimen was procured.

1906 West Indian Bull. 7 56 The night witch (Erebus odoratus) is not rare. This is one of the largest moths of the Antilles.

1915 C. L. Marlatt Silverfish; Injurious Househ. Insect (U.S. Dept. Agric. Farmers' Bull. No. 681) 1 Its..active efforts at concealment when uncovered, have attached considerable popular interest to it and have resulted in its receiving a number of more or less descriptive popular names, such as silverfish, silver louse, silver witch, sugarfish, etc.

2004 T. B. Larsen Butterflies Bangladesh 60 Araotes lapithis lapithis... The Witch was recorded from Barakhal in the Chittagong Hill Tracts..; it seems generally to be a scarce butterfly.

b. The European storm petrel, Hydrobates pelagicus. Cf. water witch n. 2b.

ΘΚΠ

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

1770 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. I. 22 The Petrel (Procellaria Pelagica, Linn.)... They..are reputed to forebode a storm, for which reason the sailors disliking their company, complimented them with the name of witches.

1813 A. Wilson Amer. Ornithol. VII. 90 They have been called Witches; Stormy Petrels; the Devil's Birds; Mother Carey's Chickens.

1957 W. L. McAtee Folk-names Canad. Birds 4 Storm Petrel... The petrels are given various names associating them with evil powers as they are supposed to be harbingers of storms..[such as] witch.

2003 M. Kirby Skellig Calling 75 At times wisping witches are seen to congregate close to land—a telltale warning for local fishermen of foul weather.

†c. A pulmonate gastropod mollusc native to mangrove salt marshes in the Indo-Pacific region and having a pale shell with darker brown markings, Pythia scarabaeus (family Ellobiidae). Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1770 W. Huddesford Lister's Hist. Conchyliorum Index ii. 63 Snail or periwincle..1 The Witch or Cockchafer.

1815 E. J. Burrow Elements Conchol. 204 Helix Scarabæus, Witch or Cockchafer.

d. Any of various flatfishes; esp. the flounder Glyptocephalus cynoglossus (family Pleuronectidae).

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Pleuronectiformes (flat-fish) > [noun] > family Pleuronectidae > member of genus Glyptocephalus (witch)

dog's tongue1611

pole1668

witch1874

halibutc1430

turbot1555

roughback1795

sand dab1839

witch1874

1874 Land & Water 7 Feb. 111/2 The value of flat fish—such as rokers, skate, witches—varies very much, according to the supply.

1882 Academy 14 Oct. 280 Whitches.—These fish, well known in Grimsby and Manchester,..The term is used..to denote..the craig-fluke (Pleuronectes cynoglossus, Lin.), a kind of dab, which is taken in considerable numbers in the North Sea.

1900 Dundee Advertiser 5 Jan. 2 When whitches and megrins have arrived in any great quantity, values have speedily dropped.

1982 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 8 Dec. 37 Ironically, the most abundant of all New Zealand flounders, the witch or megrim, is useless for eating because of its multitude of long thin hair-like bones and thin watery flesh.

2019 Sea Angler 10 Jan. 33/2 A 41cm plaice and a 1lb witch (also known as grey sole) were the highlights of a recent session.

8. Mathematics. More fully witch of Agnesi. A bell-shaped plane curve symmetrical about the y axis and that approaches the x axis as an asymptote, constructed geometrically from a circle whose base is the origin.The equation of the curve is ^8a³/ _{x²+ 4a²}, where a is the radius of the circle.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > geometry > curve > [noun] > other

quadratrix1656

section1665

family1705

semiparabola1728

tractrix1728

witcha1760

tractory1820

sinusoid1823

tractatrix1828

indicatrix1841

hodograph1847

tetrazomal1867

space curve1875

horograph1879

hypercycle1889

Peano curve1900

multiple arc1967

unknot1971

fractal1975

analemma1978

a1760 J. Colson tr. M. G. Agnesi Analyt. Inst. (1801) I. i. v. 222 The equation of the curve to be described, which is vulgarly called the Witch [It. che dicesi la Versiera].

1875 B. Williamson Elem. Treat. Integral Calculus (rev. ed.) vii. 173 Find the area between the witch of Agnesi xy² = 4a² (2a − x) and its asymptote.

1901 A. B. Basset Elem. Treat. Cubic & Quartic Curves 96 Then the locus of P is a cubic called the witch of Agnesi.

2020 T. Norando & P. Magnaghi-Delfino in P. Magnaghi-Delfino et al. Faces Geom. 162 In terms of the witch itself, this means that the coordinate of the centroid of the region between the curve and its asymptotic line is not well defined, despite this region's symmetry and finite area.

9. A mechanical loom attachment used to define a pattern to be woven. Now historical.The witch was typically used to create intricate repeating designs. It consists of a set of bars, each of which has a regularly-spaced line of holes into which an arrangement of narrow pegs are inserted in order to lift groups of weft threads. This contrasts with the dobby (dobby n. 3), in which the pegs select the wefts to be lowered.Also as a modifier; see witch loom, witch top at Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > method of > figure weaving > loom > parts of or attachments for

tablea1400

simple1731

draw-boy1811

card1829

needle1829

witch1829

machine card1832

Jacquard apparatus1841

Jacquard1851

griff1860

dobby1878

lappet1894

witch top1897

trap-board1900

necking cord1910

1829 Leeds Mercury 3 Oct. 2/5 One branch of the fancy trade has, however, been considerably revived by the introduction of a machine called a Witch, which enables the weaver to beautify the cloth with a great variety of flowers.

1883 T. Lees Easther's Gloss. Dial. Almondbury & Huddersfield Witch, a machine which stands on the top of a loom, and was used previously to the jacquard machine for the purpose of figuring the cloth.

1965 J. Tovey Technique of Weaving (1967) ii. ii. 16/2 On the witch the gear can be set to run either forwards or backwards continuously, making designing and pattern weaving easier.

2017 R. L. Blaszczyk Fashionability (e-book ed.) ii. Two men at the firm of George Senior and Sons had perfected the ‘Engine’ or ‘Dobbie’, a type of handloom that could produce small figured patterns, as did the Witch.

Phrases

P1. witch of Endor.In allusion to the biblical story in which a woman of Endor communicates with the spirit of the prophet Samuel at the behest of Saul (1 Sam. xxviii. 7–25).

a. A woman who practises witchcraft or magic, esp. a necromancer. Later also: a person, esp. a woman, believed to be in contact with the spirits of the dead; a medium. Now rare.In quot. 1582 referring to the biblical character (see note at Phrases 1).

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > spiritualism > [noun] > spiritualist or medium

ghost seer1799

sensitive1846

medium1851

spirit medium1851

spiritualist1851

spiritist1854

manifestationist1865

trance-medium1878

spookist1902

trumpet medium1912

witch of Endor1919

metapsychist1922

1582 T. Bentley Sixt Lampe Virginitie 81 Let none bee founde among you,..that asketh counsaile of the dead, (as the witch of Endor did).]

1599 T. Morton Treat. Nature of God i. 34 Let him but by some iniurious deed, or contumelious word, prouoke some witch of Endor, that hath the temporary power ouer some spirit.

1674 J. Wright Mock-Thyestes i, in tr. Seneca Thyestes 97 What Witch of Endor does thus fret me And when I'de stay in hell won't let me?

1804 R. C. Dallas Aubrey II. xx. 167 And was I a magician, or a witch of Endor, to detect that Mr. ——, the Piccadilly jontleman, was, true enough, on his way to Mr. James M'Knucle's.

1919 R. R. Marett in Q. Rev. Apr. 458 In the West End a séance with a Witch of Endor is doubtless to be obtained for a suitable fee.

1937 C. E. N. Macartney Peter & his Lord xiii. 145 Who would go to a seance, who wants the confirmation of crystal gazers, witches of Endor, and table tilters.

b. As a term of abuse or contempt for a woman. Cf. sense 3a.

ΚΠ

1677 A. Behn Town-fopp i. ii. 9 Heark ye Witch of Endor, hold your prating tongue, or I shall most well-favourdly Cudgel ye.

1819 Countess Spencer Let. 15 Nov. in Corr. Lady Lyttelton (1912) viii. 217 That witch of Endor, the Duchess of Devon, has been doing mischief of another kind.

1938 M. Gervaise Distance Enchanted vii. 126 A nutcrackery old woman whom Breeze mentally dubbed the Witch of Endor.

2019 @Adeoluwa83 21 Mar. in twitter.com (accessed 15 Mar. 2021) That witch of endor signing goblins all over the world should be sent to the abyss.

†P2. colloquial. riding of the witch: a feeling of suffocation or great distress experienced during sleep; nightmare. Cf. sense 2, witch-riding n. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1607 T. Walkington Optick Glasse iv. f. 29^v The Ephialtes, which the vulgar sort tearmes the night-mare, or the riding of the witch.

1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II. 683/2 Riding of the witch, a popular phrase for the nightmare, still in use.

P3. the witch is in (something): the specified thing is bewitched. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [phrase] > it is bewitched

the witch is in (something)1689

1689 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk 40 When a Country-wench cannot get her Butter to come, she says, The Witch is in her Churn.

1885 W. D. Howells Rise Silas Lapham xvii. 325 She rose from her struggle with the problem, and said aloud to herself, ‘Well, the witch is in it’.

1939 T'ien Hsia Monthly May 449 I saw for the first time a cotton mill at work. ‘Dear me!’ I exclaimed, ‘the witch is in it!’

P4. colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.). (as) nervous as a witch: very restless.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > restlessness > [phrase] > state of extreme restlessness

as nervous as a witch1853

like a cat on hot bricks1886

1853 Water-cure Jrnl. (N.Y.) Apr. 75/2 The windows were down, the air close, and the patient as nervous as a witch.

1911 F. M. Crawford Man Overboard in Uncanny Tales (1917) 132 She's been as nervous as a witch all day.

1992 Times 1 June 29/5 In the morning before the race, one or two of those who spoke to him [sc. Nigel Mansell] had said he was as nervous as a witch.

P5. as cold (also dry, etc.) as a witch's tit (also witch's teat): see witch's tit n. Phrases, witch's teat n. Phrases. old witch: see old adj. Compounds 4.

Compounds

C1.

a. As a modifier.

(a) With the sense ‘of, belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, a witch or witches’.Recorded earliest in witchcraft n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [adjective]

witchOE

wielfulc1275

magica1393

superstitiousc1425

diabolic1485

magicala1492

prestigious?1534

sorcerous1546

witching1567

wizardly1588

wizard1638

stoicheiotical1646

witchcraftical1676

maleficious1684

Arabian-night1808

Magian1818

wizard-like1859

OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 182 Animað hraðe þa reðan wiccan, seo þe ðus awent þurh wiccecræft manna mod.

c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 93 Þei þat..tenden to wiche falsnes [L. magicis falsitatibus] in hailes or tempestis.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Judges ix. 37 One bonde of men commeth by the waye to y^e witch Oke.

1642 T. Fuller Holy State v. iii. 368 By a Witch-bridle they can make a fair of horses of an acre of besome-weed.

1693 C. Mather Wonders Invisible World 7 Which may perhaps prove no small part of the Witch-Plot in the issue.

1822 P. B. Shelley tr. J. W. von Goethe May-day Night in Liberal 1 130 Witch legions thicken around and around.

1891 J. C. Atkinson Forty Years Moorland Parish (ed. 2) 87 The copious witch-lore of the district.

1985 Times Lit. Suppl. 28 June 728/1 No wholly satisfactory analysis of the European witch persecution has yet appeared.

2009 P. Carr-Gomm & R. Heygate Bk. Eng. Magic v. 176 Others, who will have engaged in no magic whatsoever, were simply casualties of witch-hysteria and sometimes mental illness.

(b) With the sense ‘used in witchcraft or by witches in their enchantments’.Recorded earliest in witch cake n. See also witch-water n.

ΚΠ

1616 A. Roberts Treat. Witchcraft 54 Drake the afflicted womans father, had beene to aske counsell, and made a Witch Cake.

1849 H. Mayo On Truths Pop. Superstit. 125 The witches..by witch-broths..would induce in themselves and in their pupils a heavy stupor.

a1857 R. A. Vaughan Hours with Mystics (1860) II. 256 They fare like Lucius..to whom Fotis has given the wrong witch-salve.

1964 J. A. M. Meerloo Hidden Communion ii. 28 He has attained this euphoria through rubbing his skin with the so-called witch ointment, containing the extract of belladonna or coco leaves.

1992 Times of India 7 Sept. (Saturday Times section) 1/4 The powders were typical eye-of-newt witch-brew concoctions.

(c) With the sense ‘by a witch or witches’.With past participles.Recorded earliest in witch-ridden adj. at Compounds 2.

ΚΠ

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. iii. ii. 123 Such as are troubled with Incubus, or witch ridden, as we call it, if they lie on their backs.

1898 R. Blakeborough Wit N. Riding Yorks. 160 One of the houses was suspected of being witch-held, and every thing about the place witch-stricken.

2016 Linrary Jrnl. 15 Feb. A witch-haunted small town, a teenager possessed by the devil, and a religious pilgrimage with a whiff of brimstone.

(d) With the sense ‘like or resembling (that of) a witch; as —— as a witch’.In quot. 1801 approaching the sense ‘magical’.

ΚΠ

1781 C. Johnstone Hist. John Juniper II. iii. ii. 139 The Nabob..had as constitutional an aversion to cold iron, as witch-wise Solomon.

1801 W. Scott Glenfinlas in M. G. Lewis Tales of Wonder I. 134 And bending o'er his harp, he flung His wildest witch-notes on the wind.

1913 D. H. Lawrence Love Poems p. xlv A widow of forty-five, A tough old otchel wi' long Witch teeth.

1960 E. Estes Witch Family (2000) vi. 67 They had never seen pink or blue dresses before, only witch black ones.

1982 Sunday Times 23 May 76/1 Her mother, ‘Brave Orchid’, is the true subject of the first book—preposterous, crafty, superstitious, peasant-dumb and witch-wise.

b. With other nouns, with the sense ‘that is both a witch and a ——’.Recorded earliest in witch-man n., witch-woman n.

ΚΠ

a1538 A. Abell Roit or Quheill of Tyme f. 76^v in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Operatioun of the ewill spreit & the wiche man or woman as instrument he tholis this operatioune in punitioun of synnaris.

a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 514 (heading) How King Duffois was witchit be..ane Witche Carling that duelt in Forres.

1680 in Extracts Kirk-session Rec. Dunfermline 1640–89 72 Jonet Burn called the said Ceseill Yeld son—an witchbird.

1817 W. Scott Harold vi. vi. 177 There of the witch-brides lay each skeleton.

1884 Folk-lore Jrnl. 2 258 A dog cannot catch a witch hare.

1958 J. R. R. Tolkien Let. June (1995) 272 The Witch-king, their leader, is more powerful in all ways that the others.

2001 T. Courtenay Dear Tom 116 Dark of the Moon was the story of Barbara Allen, who marries a witch boy.

2010 B. G. Walker Man Made God i. 71 The Christian Church officially diabolized all the deities of pagan peoples, concentrating especially on female deities who thus became succubae or dragons or witch-queens.

c. With agent nouns and participles, forming compounds in which witch expresses the object of the underlying verb, such as witch-burner, witch-burning, witch-seeker.Typically in the context of the hunting or persecution of people accused or suspected of witchcraft. See also witchfinder n., witch-finding n., witch-hunter n., witch-hunting n., witch-hunting adj., witch-pricker n., witch-smelling n.

ΚΠ

1610 J. Healey tr. J. L. Vives in tr. St. Augustine Citie of God iv. viii. 164 Cunina. The cradle-keeper and wich-chaser [L. fascinum submouet].

1646 J. Gaule Select Cases Conscience 5 This suspition, though it bee but late,..yet is it enough to send for the Witch-searchers, or witch-seekers.

a1675 B. Whitelocke Memorials Eng. Affairs (1682) anno 1649 418/2 That the Witchtryer taking a Pin, and thrusting it into the Skin, in many parts of their Bodies, they were insensible of it.

1894 Advance (Chicago) 26 Apr. Do we ever hear of Episcopalians as witch burners?

1909 Strand Mag. 38 692/1 They had taken to witch-burning.

1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. ix. [Scylla & Charybdis] 196 A Scotch philosophaster with a turn for witchroasting.

2006 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 21 Dec. 66/4 The inadvertent ingestion by witch-accusers of hallucinogenic poisons.

2017 Reason May 67/2 Sale acknowledges witch burning and lynch mobbery as regrettable aberrations.

C2.

witch act n. now historical any of various Acts of Parliament relating to witchcraft; = witchcraft act n.

ΚΠ

1753 World 23 Aug. 203 But it is the repeal of an act of parliament, and not the act itself, that I am now about to complain of. The act I mean is the Witch Act.

1889 Academy 16 Mar. 190/1 The Witch Act became law in 1604; and between 1603 and 1680 the number of the victims of this superstition far exceeded that of the sufferers under that of the sufferers under the Holy Office in an equal space of time.

1992 J. S. Cooper-Forst To rend & teare Bodies of Men (Ph.D. diss., Univ. New Hampsh.) 83 After ascending the throne of England as James I in 1603, he..within a year pressed Parliament into passing a ‘witch act’ that became known as the Statute of 1604.

witch ball n. (a) a puffball fungus; (b) a tumbleweed; (c) a hollow ball of decorated, usually coloured or silvered glass, originally used as a charm against witchcraft.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > valued plants and weeds > [noun] > weed > rolling mass of weeds or tumble-weed

witch ball1856

tumble-weed1887

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [noun] > charm or amulet > against witchcraft

antidemoniac1603

praefiscinal1652

horseshoe1665

witch-stone1782

witch ball1913

society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > ornamental glass-work > [noun] > glass-colouring > other decorative or coloured glass > ball of

Venetian ball1852

witch ball1913

1692 T. Forrester Counter-essay vi. 47 And like the little bag which Children finds in the Fields, and call the witch-ball, will be found to evaporat into Smoak with a smal touch.

1856 Gardeners' Chron. & Agric. Gaz. 9 Feb. 84/2 The witch-balls, consisting of round compact rolled masses of dead herbaceous stems, present a similar but even more striking instance of the power of the winds.

1913 Country Life 15 Feb. 252/1 I have in my possession a dark green glass globe seven and a-half inches in circumference with a small metal ring attached to suspend it by. This is said to be a genuine old witch-ball, and I shall be much interested if any of your readers can give me information about such balls and the superstitions connected with them.

1939 A. H. Verrill Wonder Plants & Plant Wonders xiii. 187 The witch-balls or tumbleweeds.

1973 Appalachian Jrnl. 1 224/1 The giant puff ball (fungi spore cases) was a witch-ball.

2014 Spirit & Destiny Apr. 78/3 According to folk tales, witch balls would entice spirits with their bright colours and then capture them inside.

witch bell n. (also witch bells) any of several plants having tubular or bell-shaped flowers; spec. the harebell Campanula rotundifolia, and the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea.Cf. witches' bells n., fairy bells n. 1.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > bellflowers

bell-flower1578

bluebell1578

Canterbury bells1578

Coventry bells1578

Coventry Marians1578

Coventry rapes1578

fair-in-sight1578

gauntlet1578

haskwort1578

Marian's violet1578

throatwort1578

lady's looking glass1597

mariet1597

Mercury's violet1597

peach-bells1597

steeple bells1597

uvula-wort1597

Venus looking-glass1597

campanula1664

Spanish bell1664

corn-violet1665

rampion1688

Venus' glass1728

harebell1767

heath-bell1805

witch bell1808

slipperwort1813

meadow-bell1827

greygle1844

platycodon1844

lady's thimble1853

kikyo1884

witches' bells1884

balloon flower1901

fairy thimble1914

mountain bell1923

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > foxglove and allied flowers > foxglove

foxglovec1000

London button1552

wine-pot herb1552

finger1562

finger flower1562

lady's glove1575

foxter1623

fox-finger1657

fox1684

bloody finger1789

witch bell1808

fairy fingers1811

fairy thimble1813

dead men's bells1818

witches' thimbles1820

fairy bells1821

fairy glove1841

flap-dock1846

cow-flop1847

pop-glove1847

lady's thimble1853

Scotch mercury1853

poppy1856

fairy petticoats1864

finger root1870

fairy weed1871

pop-dock1878

witches' bells1884

1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Witch-bell, round-leaved Bell-flower, Campanula rotundifolia.

1899 Morris Tribune (Minnesota, U.S.) 9 Sept. 8/3 They [sc. witches] are supposed to have had their favourite flowers as well as plants, and in England at the present time foxglove is spoken of as ‘witch bells’ and harebells as ‘witches' thimbles’.

2001 C. Perry World of Flowers 28/1 The harebell was also known as devil's bell, witch bell and witch thimble, and was not picked, for bad luck would follow.

witch bottle n. historical a stone or glass bottle used in rituals intended to counter the effects of, or as a charm against, witchcraft.Such bottles were filled with various substances or items, e.g. urine, nail clippings, and pins, and then heated or burned in order to break a witch's spell, or buried beneath (or hidden within) the house as a protective charm.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > object used as protection against

witch bottle1831

witch brooch1871

witch post1900

1831 Mechanics' Mag. 29 Oct. 70/2 No dread of this gentleman's connection with the bottomless pit is suspected by persons who obtain similar witch-bottles of Canton phosphorus.

1966 G. E. Evans Pattern under Plough vi. 74 Under the hearthstone was the spot most frequently chosen to bury the witch-bottle.

2020 A. Kiernan Bk. of Altars & Sacred Spaces 113/1 It was thought that as long as the witch bottle remained whole, the witch could not cause any harm.

witch bowl n. a decorative glass bowl of roughly globular shape, with a circular opening at the top.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > [noun] > bowl > specific types of

bread bowl1622

lavel1658

tazza1824

mixing bowl1869

sebilla1875

presentation bowl1896

lekane1905

bell-crater1921

witch bowl1926

hanging-bowl1940

1926 Dunstan (N.Z.) Times 2 Aug. Personally I find a crystal, or an old witch-bowl if possible, is best for the purpose.

2000 L. Jackson 20th Cent. Factory Glass 229/2 Her patterns were intended to complement the form of the vessel, such as..the Witch bowls and vases with spiralling mitre cutting.

witch brooch n. originally Scottish (now rare and historical) a brooch worn as a charm against witchcraft.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > object used as protection against

witch bottle1831

witch brooch1871

witch post1900

the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > brooch or pin > [noun] > other brooches

breast brooch1625

breastpin1779

mourning pin1822

bosom-brooch1835

witch brooch1871

mantle-knot1896

fáinne1919

1871 Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotl. 1868–70 8 331 The pin is fixed in much the same way as in those that are sometimes called Celtic or witch brooches.

1913 Hastings's Encycl. Relig. & Ethics VI. 559/1 Such amulets..were also known in Scotland as ‘witch-brooches’.

2017 K. Gomez Little Bk. Staffs. (e-book ed.) The Staffordshire witch brooch was heart shaped with unequal sides made of silver and set with eighteen crystals.

† witch butter n. Obsolete any of various organisms occurring in gelatinous masses; = witches' butter n. (b) at Compounds 3.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > [noun] > tremella fungi

fairy butter1700

witches' butter1718

Tremella1760

witch butter1847

witches' meat1849

1847 Anglo Amer. 26 June 220/2 The Devil is a humorous, pleasant gentleman; but his table is coarse enough, which makes the children often sick on their way home, the product being the so called witch-butter found in the fields.

1864 Intellect. Observer Feb. 13 The jelly alluded to has certainly not fallen from the sky, and [we] can pronounce it to be the plant..variously named by other authorities Nostoc, Tremella, ‘witch-butter’, and ‘shot stars’.

1895 C. J. Barton Evangel Ahvallah xvi. 161 Sticks upon whose bark were lichens and splashes of white which time had penciled with here and there touches of ‘witch-butter’.

witch cake n. now historical a cake used in magical rites, or as a means of countering the effects of witchcraft.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > preparation used to detect witches

witch cake1616

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > apparatus used by

sievea1585

witch cake1810

1616 A. Roberts Treat. Witchcraft 54 Drake the afflicted womans father, had beene to aske counsell, and made a Witch Cake.

1693 I. Mather Cases Conscience 52 Many..Magical experiments have been used to try witches by. Of this sort is that of..making a witch-cake with that urine.

1810 A. Cunningham et al. Remains Nithsdale & Galloway Song 282 The baking of the ‘Witch Cake’, with its pernicious virtues, is a curious process.

1913 Evening Tel. & Post (Dundee) 27 June 6/4 Round Flamborough Head you will have good luck if you hang up a ‘witch cake’ in the kitchen, taking the precaution, of course, to burn the cake once a year and replace it with another one.

2015 F. G. Mixon Public Choice Econ. & Salem Witchcraft Hysteria iv. 44 A primary ingredient in witch cakes is rye meal, which is then mixed with the affected urine of suspected victims of witchcraft.

witch-chap n. regional (now rare and historical) a mummer participating in the celebration of Plough Monday; = plough witch n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > mime > mumming > [noun] > mummer > types of

witch-mana1538

plough bullock1762

plough stot1817

witch-chap1827

plough bullocker1848

plough jag1852

plough jack1859

plough witcher1860

oonchook1885

janney1896

plough witcha1903

hodener1909

1827 J. Clare Shepherd's Cal. 156 ‘Keep secrets, Sim’, she said, ‘I need them now, The witch-chaps come’.

1976 K. Bonfiglioli Something Nasty in Woodshed ix. 98 ‘Let me get it clear in my head,’ George said. ‘This mummery is supposed to discourage the witch-chap and make him feel that we're in with demons and things as he is, so he'd better lay off, is that it?’

witch craze n. chiefly historical a period of widespread belief in witches accompanied by the hunt for and persecution of people (esp. women) believed to be practising witchcraft; spec. the zealous campaign directed against suspected witches which took place in Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, and was supported by ecclesiastical and civil legislation (cf. sense 1b(b)).

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [noun] > mania for

witch mania1823

witch craze1880

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > witch-hunt

witch hunt1853

witch craze1880

1880 C. C. Coffin Old Times in Colonies xxv. 310 The saddest story in the history of our country is that of the witch craze at Salem, Massachusetts.

1967 H. Trevor-Roper European Witch-craze 16th & 17th Cents. iii. 105 The Alps and the Pyrenees, the original cradle of the witch-craze, would long remain its base.

1976 R. Kieckhefer European Witch Trials ii. 23 The intense witch hunting of this stage [during the mid to late 1400s] anticipated, if it did not equal, the witch craze of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

2019 Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. (Nexis) 25 Sept. 17 In 1596, as trials took place across the north and north-east of Scotland amid the height of the witch craze, she was convicted of 18 counts of witchcraft.

witch dance n. (also witches' dance) a ritual dance performed by witches.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > dance performed by

witch dance1824

1824 C. R. Maturin Albigenses IV. i. 20 As they hopped and hobbled their witch-dance round the cauldron, one of them repeated incessantly, hurr, hurr, hurr, harr, hus, hus.

1921 M. Murray Witch-cult in W. Europe v. 132 The round dance was..essentially a witch dance.

1999 Afr. Affairs 98 175 They perform witch dances and settle down to share human flesh at their meetings.

witch-fire n. (a) a luminous electrical discharge which appears around a protruding object, such as a ship’s mast or a church spire, during a storm; = St. Elmo's fire at St. Elmo n.; (b) light seen in seawater from bioluminescent organisms.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > discharge of electricity > [noun] > luminous

glow-discharge1844

witch-fire1892

streamer1910

the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > lightning > bead or forked lightning > St. Elmo's fire

heaven's fireOE

St. Elmo's fire1561

Hermes' fire1611

corposant1650

furole1656

Castor1708

composant1751

storm-light1843

storm-firea1847

dead-fire1854

witch-fire1892

the world > matter > light > light emitted under particular conditions > [noun] > phosphorescence > of the sea > phosphorescent light on or in the sea

briny1602

sea-light1755

sea-fire1815

milky sea1821

mareel1866

mar-fire1881

milk sea1898

witch-fire1947

1892 R. L. Stevenson Let. 28 Oct. in Vailima Lett. (1896) II. xxiii. 77 Belle, my mother and I rode home about midnight in a fine display of lightning and witch-fires.

1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 28 The witch-fire climbed our channels, And flared on vane and truck.

1947 L. R. Brightwell Sea-shore Life Brit. x. 104 Stand on a pier or jetty..on a dark night, and as each little wave breaks, its curling top seems capped with a bluish green light... This was the ‘witch fire’ that awed the early mariners, and to-day sea-farers still say that the water ‘burns’.

1992 A. Wells Forbidden Magic x. 237 It was like the witch fire he had seen dancing on the masts of ships before a storm, silver as a polished blade.

2004 W. H. McAlister Life on Matagorda Island ix. 187 On rare nights every breaking wave crest ignites in witch-fire; and on moist summer nights heavy blobs of phosphor rise and course erratically across the central grassland.

witch gowan n. chiefly Scottish any of several yellow or white flowers, or plants bearing such flowers; spec. a dandelion or globeflower; also as a modifier.Now only in lists of alternative names for these flowers or plants.

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1810 A. Cunningham et al. Remains Nithsdale & Galloway Song 110 Witch-gowan flowers, are large yellow gowans, with a stalk filled with pernicious sap, resembling milk, which when anointed on the eyes is believed to cause instant blindness.

1841 Fraser's Mag. Jan. 116/1 There lay Janet hersel on the bed.., dead and cauld,..with a wreath of witch-gowans—I doubt she wasna what she should hae been, after a'—round her head.

1956 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 69 15 The Dandelion is called Horse Gowan, Milk Gowan, Witch Gowan, and Yellow Gowan.

witchgrass n. North American (a) couch grass, Elymus repens; (b) a North American bunch grass, Panicum capillare, frequently regarded as a weed. Panicum capillare is also called old-witch grass.

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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun] > panic grasses

panic?1440

summer grass1531

panicle1577

manna-grass1597

panic grass1597

panicum1739

crab-grass1743

witchgrass1790

old-witch grass1859

vine-bamboo1871

Vandyke1889

the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > grasses perceived as weeds > [noun] > couch-grass

quitcheOE

quicka1400

quicken?c1425

couch-grass1578

twitch1588

twitch grass1588

dog grass1597

sea dog's grass1597

quick grass1617

couch1637

wheat-grass1668

scutch1686

quickenings1762

quicken grass1771

spear-grass1784

squitch1785

witchgrass1790

felt1794

dog-wheat1796

creeping wheat1819

quack1822

switch-grass1840

couch-wheat1884

1790 S. Deane New-Eng. Farmer 230/2 Quitch-grass, called also Witch-Grass, Twitch-Grass, Couch-Grass, Dutch-Grass, and Dogs-Grass, a most obstinate and troublesome weed.

1875 Flora Canada 27 P[anicum] capillare—Witch Grass.

1910 Rhodora 12 27 With the exception of the well known garden-weed, Witch-grass or Quick-grass (Agropyron repens), they are ordinarily overlooked by any one but the technical botanist.

1969 D. F. Costello Prairie World 21 Spring-flowering grasses include buffalo grass (Buchloë dactyloides), poverty oat grass (Danthonia spicata), Indian ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides), witchgrass (Panicum capillare), and sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus).

2017 @TamlynRogers 4 Aug. in twitter.com (accessed 25 Nov. 2020) Witchgrass grows wild at the roadside.

witchhopple n. U.S. the hobblebush, Viburnum lantanoides.

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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > viburnums or guelder rose and allies > [noun] > American wayfaring-tree

moose bush1784

wayfaring tree1785

sheep-berry1814

witchhopple1826

hobble-bush1842

hopple1853

wayfarer's tree1853

devil's shoestring1860

tangle-leg1860

1826 J. Burlingame Poor Man's Physician 268 Take spikenard root, the bark of sweet apple-tree root, the bark of the root of witch hopple.

1980 J. E. Keller Adirondack Wilderness vii. 69 The thick, tangled, low-growing hobble-bush, or witch-hopple, can be so dense as to trip hikers repeatedly.

2007 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 9 Sept. v. 10 Copious blooms of clintonia, trout lily and witchhopple were along the trail.

witch-lock n. a tangle or matted lock of hair, often supposed to be made by a witch; cf. witch knot n. 1a, elf-lock n.

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the world > life > the body > hair > hair of head > lock or locks > [noun]

lockeOE

forelockc1000

hair-lockc1000

earlockOE

foretopc1290

tressc1290

lachterc1375

fuke1483

sidelock1530

proudfallc1540

widow's locka1543

folding1552

fore-bush1591

flake1592

witch knot1598

tuft1603

French lock1614

head-lock1642

witch-lock1682

rat's tail1706

side-curl1749

scalp knot1805

rat-tail1823

straggler1825

scalping-tuft1826

scalp-lock1827

aggravator1835

soap-lock1840

payess1845

stringleta1852

list1859

tresslet1882

drake's tail1938

1682 H. More Contin. Collection 41 in J. Glanvil Saducismus Triumphatus (ed. 2) This Magical matting of the Daughter's hair into a Witch-lock.

1858 Sunday Morning Republican (St. Louis, Missouri) 26 Sept. You have frightened Maude half to death, shaken my hair out in witch locks,..and caused me to lose both handkerchief and brooch, in the rapidity of this forced march.

2002 T. Ashley Every Woman for Herself xvi. 117 She stared up at him between witch-locks of violently auburn hair.

witch loom n. now historical a type of industrial loom or handloom which has a witch attachment fitted to define the pattern woven (see sense 9).

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shawl-looma1792

draw-loom1808

Jacquard loom1841

witch loom1862

1862 N. Amer. & U.S. Gaz. 26 Aug. (advt.) The mill contains..looms, part Jacquard's and part Jenks' 24 shaft witch loom.

1898 E. A. Posselt Recent Improvem. Textile Machinery i. 44 Box-motion for Witch Looms.

1987 Dalesman Aug. 393/1 On display are two looms—the four shaft treadle loom and the witch loom.

witch-man n. (a) a man who practises witchcraft or magic, a wizard (cf. sense 1a and man-witch n. at man n.¹ Compounds 1b); (b) regional (now rare and historical) a mummer participating in the celebration of Plough Monday; = plough witch n. (cf. witch-chap n.).

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the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > [noun]

wielerOE

jugglera1100

wielea1350

magicianc1375

sorcerc1400

warlockc1400

mage?a1425

sorcerer1526

witch-mana1538

wizarda1557

wise man1562

cunning man1594

man-witch1601

wonder-master1603

sorcerist1624

talisman1646

ob1659

fascinator1677

varlet1701

Magian1716

brujo1758

mediciner1845

bomoh1851

pellar1865

trollman1865

baloi1871

magic-man1905

Wiccan1971

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > mime > mumming > [noun] > mummer > types of

witch-mana1538

plough bullock1762

plough stot1817

witch-chap1827

plough bullocker1848

plough jag1852

plough jack1859

plough witcher1860

oonchook1885

janney1896

plough witcha1903

hodener1909

1615 Shorte Declar. li. sig. M4^v A witchman did confesse..that when they wold desire anie Tempeest to be stired vp in the Aire they Incalled the Prince of Deuills.

1851 T. Sternberg Dial. & Folk-lore Northants. Witch-men, guisers who go about on Plough-Monday.

1882 W. Featherstonhaugh in Folk-lore Jrnl. (1883) 1 91 A farmer, having a horse taken ill, sent for a well-known witchman.

1990 U. K. Le Guin Tehanu 98 There's witch-men of little account, witch-tinkers and the like, some of them'll try their own spells of beguilement on country women, but for all I can see, those spells don't amount to much.

2011 N. Pennick In Field & Fen vii. 74 The Witch-men described by Sternberg, stuffed straw into their smocks to give the illusion of humped backs.

witch mania n. chiefly historical a state or period of widespread belief in witches, accompanied by the hunt for and persecution of people (esp. women) believed to be practising witchcraft, esp. in Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries; cf. witch craze n.

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the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [noun] > mania for

witch mania1823

witch craze1880

1823 J. McHenry Spectre of Forest II. v. 67 Indeed, until the witch-mania infected the country, there had never been either prison or prisoners seen in the sober village of Derby.

1994 Esquire Mar. 78/2 Just as with those who spoke out against the witch mania, skeptics of recovered memories have been reviled as heretics.

witch-mark n. now chiefly historical a mark or protuberance on the skin, taken to indicate that a person (typically a woman) is a witch. [Compare earlier witch's mark n. at Compounds 3] .

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the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > spot or mark > witch-mark

witch's mark1624

witch-mark1644

1644 in P. H. Brown Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1908) 2nd Ser. VIII. 101 They causit thair officeris..tirre us mother naked, rype and search our bodies and secreitt memberis for witchmarkis.

1712 Impossibility of Witchcraft Pref. sig. A3^v They had found suppos'd Witch-marks, by putting Sharp Pins and Needles into Warts.

1900 J. Fiske Old Virginia & her Neighbours II. xiv. 245 She was searched for witch marks and imprisoned.

2009 Early Theatre 12 70 Intimate searches of an accused witch's body for witch-marks betraying where her familiar sucked her blood were often part of witch-trials in England.

witch meal n. a fine flammable powder consisting of ripe spores of the common clubmoss, Lycopodium clavatum; (also) the clubmoss itself.Cf. vegetable brimstone n.

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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > other vegetable materials > [noun] > lycopodium

witch meal1792

lycopodium1836

vegetable brimstone1838

lycopode1866

vegetable sulphur1887

1792 B. Thompson in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 82 66 Semen lycopodii, commonly called witch-meal.

1897 Homœpathic Pharmacœpia U.S. (Amer. Inst. Homœpathy) ii. 375 Lycopodium clavatum... Synonyms..; English, Club moss, Stag's horn, Witch meal, Wolf's claw, Vegetable sulphur.

1973 E. Hvass Plants that Feed & Serve Us 168/1 Witch-meal has been used in fireworks as it burns with a shining flame... In the old days it was believed that witch-meal sprinkled about was a protection against witches and sorcery.

witch meeting n. now chiefly historical a supposed meeting of witches, and sometimes demons or other supernatural or magical beings, often conceived of as taking place at midnight; = sabbath n. 3.Cf. witches' meeting n., witch sabbath n., witches' Sabbath n.

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the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > meeting of

witches' Sabbath1613

Sabbat1652

sabbath1660

coven1662

witches' meeting1693

witch meeting1693

witch sabbath1826

1693 ‘C. M.’ True Acct. Tryals Divers Witches, at Salem 7 Divers Women that had been of her Conversation, accus'd her being at Witch-Meetings, and of Eating and Drinking with the Devil.

1738 T. Salmon Mod. Hist. XXXI. 297 Mr. John Bradstreet,..being accused of afflicting a poor Dog, and riding upon him through the Air to Witch-Meetings.

1867 J. Mackenzie Hist. Scotl. lxv. 502 The schoolmaster, in his retracted confession, had spoken of a witch-meeting held at North Berwick Kirk.

2012 New Eng. Q. 85 253 Nathaniel Hawthorne's tale of a young Puritan of Salem Village who loses his Faith after attending—or dreaming that he has attended—a witch meeting in or around 1692.

witch-pap n. now historical a supernumerary nipple, or another nipple-like protuberance on the skin, believed to be a distinguishing mark of a witch. [Compare slightly earlier witch's teat n.]

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the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > mole

molea1398

honey spot1547

tongue-mole1562

mould1573

molehill1650

witch's teat1654

honey drop?a1800

honey-marka1803

rose-mole1877

witch-pap1886

witch's tit1932

1664 in M. Hale Coll. Mod. Relations Witches (1693) I. 58 I have, I confess, a Witch-pap, which is Sucked by the Unclean Spirit.

1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester Witch-pap, a mole which hangs or projects from the skin.

1919 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 4 Jan. 19/2 A number of records are given of what were described as bigges or witch-paps near the anus or pudenda, but explicitly stated not to be piles.

1934 Folk-lore 45 266 The woman as laid 'er out found she'd gotten a ‘witch-pap’—like a little pap, it were, a-tween 'er two natural ones.

1976 J. Obelkevich Relig. & Rural Soc. 286 In Henry Winn's youth a witch at West Ashby was said to have a ‘witch-pap’ as well.

witch post n. historical (in northern England, esp. Yorkshire) a wooden post, usually of mountain ash, marked with a cross and built into a house as a protection against witchcraft or magic.

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the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > object used as protection against

witch bottle1831

witch brooch1871

witch post1900

1900 St. Louis & Canad. Photographer Nov. 529/2 In many old cottages in Yorkshire may be seen similar posts made of wood, called witch posts, about the same height, placed inside the kitchen door,..to keep witches and evil spirits from coming round the corner.

1971 K. Thomas Relig. & Decline of Magic xvii. 543 Other preservatives included ‘witch-posts’ built into the structure of the house.

2015 S. Gordon in C. Houlbrook & N. Armitage Materiality of Magic iv. 72 A witch-post from East End Cottage, Egton, currently archived in Whitby Museum, shows how the saltire was typically incised in the upper part of the timber.

witch-pricker n. Scottish historical a person who claims to discover if a person is a witch by sticking pins into that person's skin; cf. pricker n. 2b.

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the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > one who detects witches

pricker1661

witch-pricker1841

1841 C. Mackay Mem. Pop. Delusions II. 230 In aged persons there should be some spot on the body totally devoid of feeling. It was the object of the witch-pricker to discover this spot, and the unhappy wight who did not bleed when pricked upon it, was doomed to the death.

2003 Scotl. Mag. July 75/1 The witch-pricker travelled the country rooting out witches, using long pins on the bodies of women until a mark was discovered.

witch-proof adj. impervious or resistant to witchcraft; protected against witches.

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1840 C. Dickens Master Humphrey's Clock I. 56 By dint of constantly inveigling old ladies and disposing of them in this summary manner, he acquired the reputation of a great public character, and as he received no harm in these pursuits beyond a scratched face or so, he came in course of time to be considered witch-proof.

1929 Sunday Express 13 Jan. 3/4 Many a successful business man..will drive to his modern office in the most luxurious of up-to-date motor-cars which has first of all been made ‘witch-proof’ with small amulets nailed to the dashboard.

2000 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 6 477 The women set off for their witch-proof dance ground.

witch-ridden adj. tormented, beset, or ‘ridden’ by a witch while asleep at night (see sense 2); (hence) harassed, troubled, tormented; cf. hag-ridden adj., witch-riding n.

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the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being harassed > [adjective] > as by an evil spirit

obsessed1531

witch-ridden1621

hag-ridden1685

hag-rid1691

nightmared1839

the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of being eerie > [adjective] > afflicted by nightmare

witch-ridden1621

hag-ridden1654

hag-rid1691

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. iii. ii. 123 Such as are troubled with Incubus, or witch ridden, as we call it, if they lie on their backs.

1791 W. Hutton Hist. Derby 226 That weak and witch-ridden monarch, James the First.

2016 Evening News (Norwich) (Nexis) 27 Oct. The Yarnsmith of Norwich Dave Tonge tells stories of long dead monks and witch-ridden nags, girls with golden arms, old men with long boney fingers and even a deal with the Devil!

witch sabbath n. (also witch sabbat) a supposed meeting of witches, and sometimes demons or other supernatural or magical beings, often conceived of as taking place at midnight; cf. sabbath n. 3. [Compare earlier witches' Sabbath n. at Compounds 3.] Witches are typically depicted as flying to and from such meetings, which are often characterized as featuring orgiastic and cannibalistic rites and satanic rituals.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > meeting of

witches' Sabbath1613

Sabbat1652

sabbath1660

coven1662

witches' meeting1693

witch meeting1693

witch sabbath1826

1826 Q. Rev. June 139 The jabber of fiends and sorcerers in their witch-sabbath presents an unearthly mixture.

1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands III. 253 In the South, the witchsabbaths are believed to be held around the Sacred Walnut-tree of Benevento.

1989 E. Rose Razor for Goat (2003) viii. 175 The conventional picture of the witch-Sabbat was now [at the end of the Middle Ages] fully formed as it had not been in the thirteenth century.

2009 Hist. Relig. 49 128 Metamorphosis into animals was certainly well-known across Europe as an act of witchcraft, but in Western European cases it was principally related to travel to distant witch Sabbaths.

witch-smelling n. the activity of seeking out supposed witches; (figurative) persecution (cf. witch-hunting n. 2).Frequently with reference to southern African traditions and practices. [Compare Zulu -nuka to smell, to smell out, to divine, to suspect.]

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the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > witch-hunt > action of

witch-huntinga1637

witch-finding1646

witch-smelling1852

1852 C. Kraitsir Glossology v. 219 The preceding more brutal ages of migrations, crusades, witch-smelling, heretic-roasting, etc., times.

1882 Newcastle Courant 8 Sept. 4/5 The Zulus are said to expect their monarch to revive all the ancient glories of witch-smelling and spear-washing.

1916 H. G. Wells in Peking Gaz. 30 Nov. 8/3 I do not think there is much good in a kind of witch-smelling among Italian enterprises to find the hidden German.

2014 D. Howes & C. Classen Ways of Sensing iv. 98 The ongoing custom of ‘witch-smelling’ in parts of Africa, for example, had led to many people (often women) being assaulted and even killed for supposedly practicing witchcraft.

witch stitch n. herringbone stitch.

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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > sewn or ornamented textile fabric > [noun] > embroidery or ornamental sewing > stitch > other

chain-stitch1598

French knot1623

picot1623

petty-point1632

tent-stitch1639

brede-stitch1640

herringbone stitch1659

satin stitch1664

feather-stitch1835

Gobelin stitch1838

crowfoot1839

seedingc1840

German stitch1842

petit point1842

long stitch1849

looped stitch1851

hem-stitch1853

loop-stitch1853

faggot stitch1854

spider-wheel1868

dot stitch1869

picot stitch1869

slip-stitch1872

coral-stitch1873

stem stitch1873

rope stitch1875

Vienna cross stitch1876

witch stitch1876

pin stitch1878

seed stitch1879

cushion-stitch1880

Japanese stitch1880

darning-stitch1881

Kensington stitch1881

knot-stitch1881

bullion knot1882

cable pattern1882

Italian stitch1882

lattice-stitch1882

queen stitch1882

rice stitch1882

shadow-stitch1882

ship-ladder1882

spider-stitch1882

stem1882

Vandyke stitch1882

warp-stitch1882

wheel-stitch1882

basket-stitch1883

outline stitch1885

pointing1888

bullion stitchc1890

cable-stitchc1890

oriental stitchc1890

Turkish stitchc1890

Romanian stitch1894

shell-stitch1895

saddle stitch1899

magic stitch1900

plumage-stitch1900

saddle stitching1902

German knot stitch1903

trellis1912

padding stitch1913

straight stitch1918

Hungarian stitch1921

trellis stitch1921

lazy daisy1923

diamond stitchc1926

darning1930

faggot filling stitch1934

fly stitch1934

magic chain stitch1934

glove stitch1964

pad stitch1964

1876 Bazaar, Exchange & Mart 24 June 428/1 Fig. 1 is the Witch Stitch, and is in reality only ordinary herringboning, working in the same way, from left to right.

1994 Observer 20 Mar. (Life section) 38/4 You realise that nowhere in Europe has more history been packed into a more congenial setting. And that's before you get to the witch-stitch lace and the praline chocolates, the multi-rosetted restaurants and the plethora of local beers.

witch-stone n. now historical a flat stone with a natural perforation, used as a charm against witchcraft.Cf. earlier adder-stone n.

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the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [noun] > charm or amulet > against witchcraft

antidemoniac1603

praefiscinal1652

horseshoe1665

witch-stone1782

witch ball1913

1782 R. Greene Particular & Descriptive Catal. Lichfield Mus. 36 A Bunch of Witch Stones, from the River Wribble, in Lancashire.

1870 ‘Ouida’ Puck I. vi. 91 The old soul have a bit of belief like in witch-stones, and allus sets one aside her spinnen' jenny.

2001 M. Campbell Strange World of Brontës iv. 194 Adder-stones or witch-stones, as they were sometimes known, have natural holes in them and were frequently tied with string, before being suspended from the rafters, to ward off witches.

† witch top n. Obsolete a witch attachment for a loom; = sense 9; frequently as a modifier.

ΘΚΠ

tablea1400

simple1731

draw-boy1811

card1829

needle1829

witch1829

machine card1832

Jacquard apparatus1841

Jacquard1851

griff1860

dobby1878

lappet1894

witch top1897

trap-board1900

necking cord1910

1897 Philadelphia Inquirer 19 Aug. 8/3 (advt.) Weavers on witch-top looms. Star Mills, Howard and Jefferson.

1908 Fibre & Fabric 14 Mar. 20/2 A. D. Irwin & Bro., manufacturers of men's wear, who recently installed a few witch tops for their looms, will, it is stated install an additional number in a few days.

1920 Amer. Wool & Cotton Reporter 1 Apr. 1236/2 (advt.) Ingram Witch Top Looms, 4 x 1 Boxes.

witch trial n. chiefly historical a trial of a defendant charged with practising witchcraft.Chiefly with reference to the period of heightened fear of witches in Europe and European colonies in the early modern period; cf. sense 1b(b).rare before the 19th cent.

ΚΠ

1694 in I. Mauduit Tri-unity (end matter) A further account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches... This Book is Printed on the same size with the first Accounts of the Witch-Tryals, that they might Bind up together.

1830 R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. (1833) III. ii. 603 (note) This symbolical mode of taking the..produce of land, &c., is frequently alluded to in Witch-Trials.

1971 K. Thomas Relig. & Decline of Magic (1997) xvi. 514 Image-magic made a periodic appearance in the witch-trials.

2021 Independent (Nexis) 23 June During the Salem witch trials, a woman who was left-handed was much more likely to be accused of being a witch.

† witch-water n. Obsolete rare water used in magical rites.In quot. 1659 as a derogatory term for holy water.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > consumables > water > [noun]

holy waterc900

witch-water1622

1622 in R. Baddeley Boy of Bilson 63 Hee made holy-water, and witch-water, saying certaine prayers ouer them, and putting salt into the witch-water.

1659 R. Baxter Key for Catholicks i. xxix. 186 The Priest exorcised him..washing him with Holy water, Witch water.

witchweed n. any of various parasitic plants; esp. any of various African and Asian species of the genus Striga (family Orobanchaceae), which have small bright flowers and infest legumes and grasses, including cereal crops such as maize, sorghum, and rice; (also) such plants collectively.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > poisonous or harmful plants > parasitic plants > [noun] > other

beech-drops1815

rafflesia1822

Scotchman hugging the (also a) Creole1828

Brugmansia1832

John Crow nose1844

pinedrops1848

nettle-blight1849

Scotch attorney1864

Jim Crow's nose1866

witchweed1881

devil's guts1889

1881 Pall Mall Gaz. 19 Dec. 10/2 We have in England one or two other common parasitic plants, such as the little twining red dodder,..and the strange flesh-coloured tooth-wort, a famous witch-weed.

1904 Times 25 July 12/3 Complaints..were constantly being received..of damage done..to the mealie..crop by..rooi-bloom or witch weed.

1972 D. A. Roberts & C. W. Boothroyd Fund. Plant Pathol. iii. 35 The witchweeds (Striga spp.) attack the roots of their hosts.

2003 Guardian 18 Sept. (Life section) 6/5 The curse of poor farmers on poor land in Africa is witchweed, or striga.

witch-wife n. now archaic a woman who practises witchcraft or magic; cf. sense 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun]

walkyrieOE

witchOE

hagc1230

strya1300

wise woman1382

sorceressc1384

luller14..

tylyester14..

chantressc1425

magicienne1490

gyre-carline1535

witch-womana1538

eye-biter1584

beldama1586

witch-wife1591

cunning woman1594

saga?a1600

magha1609

magicianess1651

hag-witcha1658

haggard1658

besom-rider1664

wizardess1789

fly-by-night1796

lucky1827

bruja1829

weird-woman1845

hex1856

Baba Yaga1857

pishogue1906

witcher1928

1591 in R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. (1833) I. ii. 250 Catherene Campbell the Wich-wyffe, duelland in the Cannogait.

1696 A. Telfair True Relation Apparition 6 He had sent his Son to a Witch-wife, who lived then at the Routing-bridge.

1867 W. Morris Life & Death of Jason v. 94 As poisonous herbs..Are pounded by some witch-wife on the shore Of Pontus.

1981 B. Lumley Khai of Khem (2004) v. ii. 133 Aysha the witch-wife had first brought this fact to light with her predictions about Khai.

witch-woman n. a woman who practises witchcraft or magic; cf. sense 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun]

walkyrieOE

witchOE

hagc1230

strya1300

wise woman1382

sorceressc1384

luller14..

tylyester14..

chantressc1425

magicienne1490

gyre-carline1535

witch-womana1538

eye-biter1584

beldama1586

witch-wife1591

cunning woman1594

saga?a1600

magha1609

magicianess1651

hag-witcha1658

haggard1658

besom-rider1664

wizardess1789

fly-by-night1796

lucky1827

bruja1829

weird-woman1845

hex1856

Baba Yaga1857

pishogue1906

witcher1928

a1765 Northumbld. betrayd by Dowglas in J. W. Hales & F. J. Furnivall Bp. Percy's Folio MS (1867) II. i. 221 My mother, shee was a witch woman.

1897 Edinb. Rev. Oct. 394 Lapland witch-women.

1925 Cent. Mag. Jan. 398/1 When the tribes assembled on In-ga-lee-nay for the yearly Festival of the Whale, it took Miak, the witch-woman three days to sing all the runes.

2018 School Libr. Jrnl. (Nexis) Dec. Young Sibylla and her two sisters race through the forest to have their fortunes told by the witch woman.

witchwork n. witchcraft.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [noun]

wielingeOE

wielOE

craftOE

witchcraftOE

witchdomOE

telingc1230

demerlaykc1275

dweomercraeftc1275

sorcerya1300

magicc1387

maleficec1390

jugglerya1400

precination1503

witchery1546

maleficiousness1547

prestigiation?c1550

wizardry1583

magie1592

dark art1613

prestigion1635

conjurement1645

magomancy1652

wizardism1682

thaumaturgy1727

warlockry1818

witchwork1827

brujería1838

wizardship1882

trolldom1891

mojo1923

pixie dust1951

witchering1956

old religion1964

1827 T. Carlyle tr. E. T. W. Hoffmann in German Romance II. 297 ‘Hey, hey! vermin!—Mad spell!—Witchwork [Ger. Hexenwerk]!—Hither, holla!’ So shouted he: then the black hair of the crone started up in tufts.

2000 T. Robbins Fierce Invalids 93 The Kandakandero had taken his affliction as a sign of divine favor and a portent of supernatural abilities, and immediately consecrated him to witchwork.

C3. Compounds with the first element in genitive or genitive plural. See also witch's hat n.

witches' bells n. (also witch's bells) any of several plants having tubular or bell-shaped flowers; spec. the harebell Campanula rotundifolia, and the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea; (also) a flower of such a plant.Cf. witch bell n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > bellflowers

bell-flower1578

bluebell1578

Canterbury bells1578

Coventry bells1578

Coventry Marians1578

Coventry rapes1578

fair-in-sight1578

gauntlet1578

haskwort1578

Marian's violet1578

throatwort1578

lady's looking glass1597

mariet1597

Mercury's violet1597

peach-bells1597

steeple bells1597

uvula-wort1597

Venus looking-glass1597

campanula1664

Spanish bell1664

corn-violet1665

rampion1688

Venus' glass1728

harebell1767

heath-bell1805

witch bell1808

slipperwort1813

meadow-bell1827

greygle1844

platycodon1844

lady's thimble1853

kikyo1884

witches' bells1884

balloon flower1901

fairy thimble1914

mountain bell1923

foxglovec1000

London button1552

wine-pot herb1552

finger1562

finger flower1562

lady's glove1575

foxter1623

fox-finger1657

fox1684

bloody finger1789

witch bell1808

fairy fingers1811

fairy thimble1813

dead men's bells1818

witches' thimbles1820

fairy bells1821

fairy glove1841

flap-dock1846

cow-flop1847

pop-glove1847

lady's thimble1853

Scotch mercury1853

poppy1856

fairy petticoats1864

finger root1870

fairy weed1871

pop-dock1878

witches' bells1884

1884 R. Folkard Plant Lore, Legends & Lyrics ii. 345 The witches are popularly supposed to have..decorated their fingers with its [sc. the foxglove's] largest bells, thence called ‘Witches' Bells’.

1904 G. G. Niles Bog-trotting for Orchids xiv. 167 I departed from New York for the Hoosac Valley, to obtain photographs of my orchids... Rosy-faces, golden-slippers, witches'-bells, and milky-white stars all arose from the earth.

2012 A. Templeton Evil for Evil ii. 35 She reached down to delicate blue flowers growing by her feet, cupping one tenderly in her fingers. ‘I love harebells. Witches bells—that was the old name.’

witches' besom n. an abnormal cluster of shoots on a plant, typically resulting from infection; = witches' broom n. [Originally after German Hexenbesen (see witches' broom n.).]

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > gall or abnormal growth

gall1398

elationc1420

dog rose1526

tumour?1541

to-growing1562

gall-nut1572

gall-apple1617

apple1668

by-fruit1682

witches' besom1849

witches' broom1856

mad-apple1868

nail gall1879

marble gall1882

gall-knob1892

scroll-gall1895

twig-gall1900

cecidium1902

1849 Gardeners' Chron. & Agric. Gaz. 2 June 340/3 An allied species is very common in Germany, giving a peculiar aspect to the trees which are attacked, and which are in consequence known under the name of Hexenbesen (Witches' besoms).

1856 Gardeners' Chron. 28 June 436/2 In summer the Witches' Besoms are known at a distance by their red brown tint and bushy habit.

1909 E. W. Swanton Fungi i. iv. 33 Ascomyces turgidus gives rise to the ‘witches' besoms’ so commonly seen on birch, and particularly noticeable in winter.

2012 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 19 Dec. 12 When I was a lad I used to think ‘witches' broom’ or ‘witches' besoms’ were birds' nests high in tree branches, or possibly squirrel dreys.

witch's bridle n. (also witches' bridle) historical an instrument of punishment or torture consisting of an iron framework for the head and a sharp metal gag for restraining the tongue; cf. scold's bridle n., branks n.¹ 1.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > punishment > torture > instrument or place of torture > [noun] > bit

barnacle1568

witch's bridle1817

gadge1846

1817 D. Webster Topogr. Dict. Scotl. 267/2 An engine of torture called ‘A witch's bridle,’ which is an iron hoop going round the head, and fixed behind with a forelock.

2018 R. Traister Good & Mad ii. i. 51 The brank—also known as a scold's bridle, or a witch's bridle—was a sixteenth-century torture device used to muzzle a defiant or cranky woman, her head and jaw clamped into a metal cage.

witches' butter n. (also witch's butter) †(a) a frothy secretion exuded on plants by larvae of certain insects; cuckoo spit (obsolete rare); (b) any of various organisms occurring in gelatinous masses, esp. a jelly fungus and the cyanobacterium nostoc, Nostoc commune; cf. fairy butter n. 1.Probably so called (in both senses) from a belief that such material was left or used by witches.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > [noun] > tremella fungi

fairy butter1700

witches' butter1718

Tremella1760

witch butter1847

witches' meat1849

the world > plants > particular plants > algae > [noun] > nostoc

star slime1440

slime1471

nostoc?1609

star shot1653

star1666

star jelly1702

shot star1811

witches' meat1849

will-o'-the-wisp1863

witches' butter1922

1718 F. Hutchinson Hist. Ess. conc. Witchcraft vi. 99 Such Froth in Meadows and Gardens is not from Witches and Spirits spewing, but from Grasshoppers, and other little Insects..; and when I see Swedish Judges..learn from the Rabble to call it Witches Butter, and hang and burn their Neighbours from such Evidence; I cannot but stand amazed.

1836 M. J. Berkeley in J. E. Smith Eng. Flora V. ii. 218 E[xidia] glandulosa. (Witches' Butter.)

1861 H. Macmillan Footnotes from Nature 288 The wrinkled, quaking, gelatinous mass of the witches' butter.

1922 C. L. Abbott What comes from What 7 Star jelly or witches' butter, found on damp ground, consists of colonies of Nostoc.

2007 National Trust Mag. Autumn 75/1 With names like devil's fingers, the sickener, slippery Jack, witches' butter and destroying angel, it's no surprise that some mushroom myths have persisted into modern times.

2020 M. Blocksma Heartland Habitats 78 I'm always startled when a mass of witch's butter, so intensely, deeply yellow, appears on its dark host.

† witch's cradle n. Irish English (northern) Obsolete rare a fossil oyster of the extinct Mesozoic genus Gryphaea (family Gryphaeidae); cf. gryphite n.Also called devil's toenail.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > organism > fossil > [noun] > types of

astroite1610

belemnite1646

mussel-stone1660

scallop-stone1668

trochite1676

conchite1677

ophiomorphite1677

pectinite1677

worm-stone1677

musculite1681

serpent-stone1681

sugar-plum1681

glossopetraa1684

ague shell1708

forket1708

mytilite1727

grit1748

phytolithus1761

fairy beads1767

fairy fingers1780

fairy arrow1794

gryphite1794

ram's horn1797

hysterolite1799

tubulite1799

thunder-pick1801

celleporite1808

ceraunite1814

seraph1822

serpulite1828

coprolite1829

subfossil1831

pencil1843

trigonellite1845

buccinite1852

rudist1855

guide fossil1867

witch's cradle1867

coccolith1868

fairy cheeses1869

discolith1871

Portland screw1871

spiniferite1872

cyatholith1875

cryptozoon1883

sabellite1889

palaeospecies1895

homoeomorph1898

rudistid1900

megafossil1932

scolecodont1933

macrofossil1937

hystrichosphere1955

palynomorph1961

acritarch1963

molecular fossil1965

mitrate1967

1867 4th Ann. Rep. Belfast Naturalists' Field Club 8 The Gryphea incurva, commonly called in the locality ‘witches' cradles’.

1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down Witch's cradle, a Lias fossil, Gryphea incurva.

† witches' elm n. (also witch's elm) Obsolete the wych elm, Ulmus glabra.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > elms > [noun]

wycheOE

elmc1000

ulm-treec1000

witch hazela1400

all-heart1567

ulme1567

white elm1580

wych elm1582

witchen1594

weeping elm1606

trench-elm1676

smooth-leaved elm1731

witch elm1731

water elm1733

slippery elm1748

Scotch elm1769

wahoo1770

American elm1771

red elm1805

witches' elm1808

moose elm1810

cork-elm1813

rock elm1817

swamp elm1817

planer tree1819

Jersey elm1838

winged elm1858

sand elm1878

Exeter-elm1882

1808 J. Cottle Fall of Cambria II. xv. 18 The passing Breeze so faintly stirr'd himself, That nought but the Witches Elm-leaf, flapping round In very sport and wantonness of joy, Told of his unfelt presence.

1821 W. Scott Kenilworth I. ix. 238 I have sown a sprig of witch's elm in the neck of un's doublet.

witch's horse n. †(a) a wolf (obsolete rare); (b) any of various insects, esp. a stick insect; cf. devil's horse n. (b) at devil n. Compounds 3d.Quot. 1865 is apparently an isolated literary archaism in imitation of Norse and Old English kennings.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf)

wolfc725

greyOE

Isegrima1300

grey wolf1595

lupus?a1600

witch's horse1865

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Phasmida > family Phasmidae

walking stick1760

leaf insect1795

spectre1798

stick insect1826

spectrum1838

phasmid1864

stick bug1868

twig insect1882

witch's horse1894

1865 C. Kingsley Hereward xx, in Good Words June 414/1 The silence was broken by a long wild cry from the forest... It was the howl of a wolf. ‘Hark to the witch's-horse!’

1894 Harper's Mag. Feb. 456 [The walking stick insect] which the country people near Salem, Massachusetts..call ‘witches' horses’.

1994 Bulletin (Yorks. Naturalists' Union) 21 17 In Italy and among the Dakota Indians, the insects are known as a witch's animal, hence Witch's Horse, and as witches are the devil's creatures, then it follows that the dragonfly is the devil's animal.

2005 News–Press (Fort Myers, Florida) (Nexis) 15 May (Tropicalia Mag.) 6 r Anisomorpha buprestoides... Variously known as the devil's riding horse, prairie alligator, stick bug, witch's horse, devil's darning needle, scorpion, and musk mare, the twostriped walking stick is one of about 2,000 species in the world.

witches' knickers n. colloquial (chiefly Irish English) discarded plastic bags or shreds of plastic bags that have become snagged in trees, hedges, etc.

ΚΠ

2000 Irish Times 23 Dec. (Weekend section) 7/6 Plastic carrier bags..end up in landfill or blowing about in trees and hedges (now known colloquially as ‘witches knickers’).

2014 D. Fletcher Crystal Balls & Moroccan Walls iii. 28 Litter was evident for miles around, and ‘witches' knickers’ were evident even further afield.

witch's mark n. now chiefly historical a mark or protuberance on the skin, taken to indicate that a person is a witch; = witch-mark n. at Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > spot or mark > witch-mark

witch's mark1624

witch-mark1644

1624 J. Cotta Triall Witch-craft (ed. 2) x. 89 Those supposed Witches markes, before they can iustly and truely bee iudged to bee by the Diuell effected or vsed, must by some stampe or signe proper to himselfe, or to his workes, or to his vse or propertie therein, be so determined and conuinced to be.

1845 Evergreen Nov. 349/1 He began the work of searching for the ‘witch's mark’, by thrusting pins into various parts of the innocent man's body.

2002 G. Duncan I, Lucifer (2003) 149 The Pricker is called in to search for the witch's mark. Third nipple, scar, mole, pimple, freckle, wen, wart, birthmark, scratch, scab—pretty much anything in the blemish family qualifies.

† witches' meat n. Obsolete any of various organisms occurring in gelatinous masses; = witches' butter n. (b).Quot. 1835 shows an earlier use of witch-meat in the same sense, with witch as a modifier rather than in the genitive plural.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > [noun] > tremella fungi

fairy butter1700

witches' butter1718

Tremella1760

witch butter1847

witches' meat1849

the world > plants > particular plants > algae > [noun] > nostoc

star slime1440

slime1471

nostoc?1609

star shot1653

star1666

star jelly1702

shot star1811

witches' meat1849

will-o'-the-wisp1863

witches' butter1922

1835 G. T. Burnett Outl. Bot. I. 231 By our foresters they are variously named, according to their forms and consistences, ‘Witch-guts’, ‘Witch-meat’, and ‘Witches'-butter.’]

1849 Visitor, or, Monthly Instructor Dec. 473/2 They are of a yellowish, whited, or brown colour, and woodmen call them witches' meat.

1867 Chambers's Encycl. IX. 531/2 Tremella..Several species are found in Britain. In some places, they receive such popular names as Witches' Meat and Witches' Butter.

witches' meeting n. a supposed meeting of witches, and sometimes demons or other supernatural or magical beings, often conceived of as taking place at midnight; = sabbath n. 3Cf. witch meeting n., witch sabbath n., witches' Sabbath n.Quot. 1627 shows the collocation Lancashire witches modifying meeting rather than this compound.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > meeting of

witches' Sabbath1613

Sabbat1652

sabbath1660

coven1662

witches' meeting1693

witch meeting1693

witch sabbath1826

1627 R. Bernard Guide Grand-iury Men ii. xviii. 221 The relations of the Lancashire Witches meeting at Malkin Tower, some 20. together.]

1693 tr. A. Bourignon in Coll. Mod. Relations Witches 29 This Love of hers had..carried her at Nights to the Witches Meetings in great Castles.

1718 F. Hutchinson Hist. Ess. conc. Witchcraft ii. 39 They were carried to Witches Meetings Two or Three Times a Week, where they met vast Multitudes of other Witches.

1873 To-day (Philadelphia) Oct. 209/2 The Hexentenplaz is where Goethe locates the scenes of the witches' meeting in the drama of Faust.

2013 Cambr. Q. 42 211 Three local women were accused by the scullery maid Ann Armstrong of frequenting witches' meetings in Riding Mill.

witches' night n. a night during which witches are supposed to be especially active, spec. (the night of) Midsummer Eve, 23 June, or Halloween, 31 October.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > period > year > season > [noun] > summer > midsummer > midsummer day or eve

Midsummer DaylOE

midsummer1530

witches' nighta1697

a1697 J. Aubrey Remaines Gentilisme & Judaisme (1881) 133 'Tis Midsommer-night or Midsommer-eve (St. Jo. Baptist) is counted or called the Witches night.

1876 H. W. Dulcken tr. B. Auerbach Good Hour 22 In the village they marvelled at first to find the two witches gone; but soon it was settled that the devil had carried them off in the ‘witches' night’.

1911 Bright Ideas for Money-making 186 The custom of playing tricks on this night [sc. Hallowe'en] came from the old superstition that this is ‘witches' night’ and that all the strange and wild powers of the air are abroad to do mischief.

2015 Western Morning News (Nexis) 30 May 14 The 23rd [of June] is Midsummer or Johnmas Eve, the Witches Night and 24th is Midsummer Day, Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist.

witches' prayer n. (also witch's prayer) now historical an incantation in verse, supposed to function as a blessing when recited forwards, and as a curse when recited backwards.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [noun] > spell > kinds of

night-spellc1390

white paternosterc1390

back-pater-noster1561

counter-charm1601

witches' prayer1663

counter-spell1725

karakia1832

rune1841

black paternoster1851

conjure1873

1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. iii. 189 He that gets her by heart must say her The back-way, like a Witche's prayer.

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 61. ¶5 To which I must..add a little Epigram called the Witches Prayer, that fell into Verse when it was read either backward or forward, excepting only, that it Cursed one way and Blessed the other.

1864 G. A. Lawrence Maurice Dering II. 218 My good wishes of late have been fearfully like witches' prayers.

2004 L. Roper Witch Craze viii. 192 Under questioning, Juditha repeated the bizarre so-called witches' prayer she had learned.

witches' Sabbath n. (also witch's sabbat) a supposed meeting of witches, and sometimes demons or other supernatural or magical beings, often conceived of as taking place at midnight; = sabbath n. 3.Cf. witch sabbath n., witch meeting n., witches' meeting n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > meeting of

witches' Sabbath1613

Sabbat1652

sabbath1660

coven1662

witches' meeting1693

witch meeting1693

witch sabbath1826

1613 W. B. tr. S. Michaelis Admirable Hist. Penitent Woman 119 He also said to Magdalene, Art not thou an accursed woman, that the Witches Sabbath [Fr. le Sabath] is kept here?

1853 C. Dickens Bleak House viii. 67 Such..as was never dreamed of in the wildest visions of a Witch's Sabbath.

1975 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 2 Mar. 12/8 The witches' sabbat..has its academic advocates to this very day... In..1972 a professor at the University of California maintained that sects of witches did exist, and..they did worship the devil.

2002 N. Drury Dict. Esoteric 132/1 It has been suggested that the magical flight of witches to the witches' sabbath resulted from hallucinatory ointments rubbed into the skin.

witches' thimbles n. (also witches' thimble, witch's thimble) any of several plants having tubular or bell-shaped flowers, esp. the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea; (also) a flower of such a plant.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > names applied to various flowers

heliotropec1000

flower jaunette1423

helichrysum1551

sunflower1562

Armeria1578

hyacinth1578

pimpernel1578

vaccin1589

heliochryse1593

purple1604

sunflower1622

mayflower1626

starflower1629

bluebottle1648

pink1731

trumpet-flower1732

fly-wort1753

witches' thimbles1820

honey plant1824

black-eyed Susan1836

shell-flower1845

pincushion1847

pincushion flower1856

nightingale1862

garland-flower1866

paper-white1880

foxglovec1000

London button1552

wine-pot herb1552

finger1562

finger flower1562

lady's glove1575

foxter1623

fox-finger1657

fox1684

bloody finger1789

witch bell1808

fairy fingers1811

fairy thimble1813

dead men's bells1818

witches' thimbles1820

fairy bells1821

fairy glove1841

flap-dock1846

cow-flop1847

pop-glove1847

lady's thimble1853

Scotch mercury1853

poppy1856

fairy petticoats1864

finger root1870

fairy weed1871

pop-dock1878

witches' bells1884

1820 Edinb. Mag. & Literary Misc. Apr. 344/1 The mother..pulled some witches thimbles, or foxglove.

1866 J. T. B. Syme Sowerby's Eng. Bot. (ed. 3) VI. 13 Campanula rotundifolia... Hare-bell... A common rustic name for them is ‘witches' thimbles’.

1878 Handbk. Eng. & Wales 22/2 The plant called ‘Witches' Thimbles’ (Silene maritima) appears to be the sole living thing which flourishes [on the island].

1914 H. H. Thomas Rock Gardening for Amateurs xx. 125 C. pusilla.—This well-known and showy little plant from South Europe, of tufted growth, glossy green leaves, and dainty drooping bells of blue, pale blue or white in July, is often called ‘Witches' Thimbles’ or ‘Fairy Thimbles’, and is frequently used as an edging.

2010 Times 26 July 24/1 These delicate lilac bells that tremble on their thin stalks have often had magic associated with them, and have been called fairy bells and witches' thimbles.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	witch
释义	witchn. Brit. /wɪtʃ/, U.S. /wɪtʃ/ Forms: Old English wicca (masculine), Old English wycc- (inflected form), Old English (feminine and in compounds and derivatives)– wicce, Old English (feminine and in compounds and derivatives)– wycce, early Middle English uiche, Middle English wecches (plural), Middle English wech, Middle English weche, Middle English whiche, Middle English whycche, Middle English whychis (plural), Middle English wichche, Middle English wiecche, Middle English wycch, Middle English wycche, Middle English wychche, Middle English wyche, Middle English wycshe, Middle English–1500s wicche, Middle English–1500s wiche, Middle English–1500s wych, Middle English–1500s wytche, Middle English–1600s wich, Middle English–1700s witche, late Middle English–1600s whitche, late Middle English– witch, 1500s which, 1500s (1800s archaic) wytch, 1800s whitch (English regional (northern)); N.E.D. (1928) also records a form late Middle English wheche; Scottish pre-1700 uiche, pre-1700 veche, pre-1700 vich, pre-1700 vicsche, pre-1700 vische, pre-1700 vitch, pre-1700 vitche, pre-1700 vitche, pre-1700 vyche, pre-1700 vytch, pre-1700 vytche, pre-1700 wech, pre-1700 weche, pre-1700 weiche, pre-1700 wesch, pre-1700 wetche, pre-1700 weyche, pre-1700 which, pre-1700 wicchis (plural), pre-1700 wich, pre-1700 wichches (plural), pre-1700 wiche, pre-1700 wicht, pre-1700 wichth, pre-1700 wisch, pre-1700 wische, pre-1700 witche, pre-1700 witsh, pre-1700 wych, pre-1700 wyche, pre-1700 wycht, pre-1700 wytche, pre-1700 wyttche, pre-1700 1700s– witch, 1800s–1900s whitch, 1800s– wutch. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: < the same Germanic base as the continental Germanic verbs cited at witch v.¹ (see discussion at that entry). Compare Middle Low German wicker , Middle Dutch wicker (Dutch †wikker ), both in the sense ‘soothsayer’, representing derivative formations from the respective verbs. Compare wieler n. and later wiele n.The forms of the word from Middle English onwards reflect palatalization and assibilation of the stem-final geminate in Old English (compare e.g. early Middle English wicche and also the forms of witch v.¹). Although Old English spelling does not regularly indicate the resulting affricate, the occasional spelling of inflected forms of the noun as wiccean supports it. The palatalization may be due to a following j -suffix (weak jan -/jōn -stem). An alternative suggestion that the word reflects earlier Old English witga , a reduced form of witie n. (ultimately < the same Germanic base as wit v.¹) does not account for the presumed Germanic cognates (this suggestion assumes shortening of the stem vowel and affrication of /tj/ to /tʃ/ as seen in e.g. feccan < earlier fetian ; see fetch v. and fet v.). Gender of the word in Old English. In Old English the word is attested both as weak feminine (wicce ) and as weak masculine (wicca ), as well as in inflected forms (chiefly in the plural) that are difficult to assign to either the feminine or the masculine and may be used with indeterminate gender reference. (The weak feminine and weak masculine nouns are distinguished in their inflectional endings only in the nominative singular.) In the attested compounds and derivatives, the word takes the form wicce- as first element (compare witchcraft n., witchdom n.); this may represent the feminine singular ending, but is more likely to show a connecting vowel -e- . Although there is clear evidence for beliefs about female practitioners of magic already in Anglo-Saxon England, it is not clear how strongly the stem wicc- was already associated with female practitioners in early use. Specific senses. With sense 4 compare earlier water witch n. 3. With sense 5 compare slightly earlier Wicca n. In sense 8 representing a mistranslation (in quot. a1760) of Italian †versiera , denoting a curve based on a versed sine (1718, introduced by G. Grandi as an Italian equivalent for his post-classical Latin versoria : see versor n.²), by association with versiera female demon (15th cent; ultimately related to avversario adversary, devil: see adversary n.); in witch of Agnesi with reference to the name of Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–99), the author of the work translated in quot. a1760. I. Senses denoting a person, esp. one who practises witchcraft or magic, or a supernatural being. 1. a. A person (in later use typically a woman; see note) who practises witchcraft or magic, esp. of a malevolent or harmful nature.From the Old English period onwards, witch has carried negative connotations of malevolent or harmful magic, but this is complicated by the fact that, according to orthodox Christian belief, practitioners of both benevolent and harmful magic derived their powers (wittingly or otherwise) from the Devil or evil spirits (cf. sense 1b(a)). In the late medieval and early modern period, during a period of heightened fear of witches, it was believed that practitioners of witchcraft had knowingly entered into a compact with such beings (cf. sense 1b(b)). It appears that, in early modern popular usage, witch remained largely restricted to practitioners of harmful magic, while practitioners of benevolent magic were referred to as cunning or wise (see cunning adj. 3, wise adj. 2b). Where witch was applied to all practitioners of magic, a differentiation was made between benevolent white witches and malevolent black witches (see white witch n., black witch n. 1). Subsequent usage displays a wide range of applications, particularly from the 18th cent. onwards when belief in witchcraft declined; portrayals of witches in fiction now typically attribute their powers to special knowledge or innate qualities.Witch is not clearly associated with women more than men in early use, but its employment as a term of abuse or contempt for a woman from the 15th cent. onwards (see sense 3a) suggests that it had begun to be associated particularly with women from at least that date, and the appearance of formations such as he-witch and man-witch around the turn of the 17th cent. indicates that witch was by then commonly understood to denote a woman (although cf. the note at sense 1b(b)). The frequently marginal status of older women (esp. those who were widowed or unmarried) within the community made them especially vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft, particularly if they happened to have knowledge of traditional or folk medicine, a belief that women were more susceptible than men to the Devil being an additional contributing factor. In later use, witch is frequently regarded as the female equivalent of wizard and warlock (both typically denoting a man who practises magic).Popular depictions of witches often show them with distinctive hats (see witch's hat n. 1) and black cloaks, and as possessing the ability to fly, esp. using enchanted objects such as broomsticks. They are often associated with cats and other small animals, which were formerly regarded as familiars (see familiar n. 3a).For further discussion of the development of the meaning of the word, see R. Hutton, ‘The Meaning of the Word “Witch”’, in Magic, Ritual, & Witchcraft 13 (2018) 98–119.In quot. OE¹ wicce denotes a female witch; for a discussion of the gender of the word in Old English see the etymological note. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] walkyrieOE witchOE hagc1230 strya1300 wise woman1382 sorceressc1384 luller14.. tylyester14.. chantressc1425 magicienne1490 gyre-carline1535 witch-womana1538 eye-biter1584 beldama1586 witch-wife1591 cunning woman1594 saga?a1600 magha1609 magicianess1651 hag-witcha1658 haggard1658 besom-rider1664 wizardess1789 fly-by-night1796 lucky1827 bruja1829 weird-woman1845 hex1856 Baba Yaga1857 pishogue1906 witcher1928 OE Ælfric Homily (Corpus Cambr. 178) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 792 Nu segð se wyrdwritere þæt seo wicce sceolde aræran þa of deaþe þone Drihtnes witegan Samuhel gehaten. OE Laws of Cnut (Nero) ii. iva. 310 Gif wiccean oððe wigleras, morðwyrhtan oððe horcwenan ahwær on lande wurðan agitene, fyse hig man georne ut of þysum earde, oððon on earde forfaran hig mid ealle. c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) l. 372 Ich hit am þet spec þurh simunes muð þe wicche. c1300 St. Lucy (Laud) l. 125 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 104 Þou art strong wichche,..Mine clerkes and mine enchauntours bi-nime schullen þi wichchingue. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3028 Ðe wicches hidden hem, for-ðan Bi-foren pharaun nolden he ben. ?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 121 Iuno the false wycche and sorceresse. 1493 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (Pynson) i. xxxvi. sig. eiiii/2 The wytche worshypeth the feende so highly..Therfore is the feende redy to do the wytches wylle. a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 115 Ionet the wedo on a bwsum hame rydand, Off wytchis with ane windir garesoun. 1563 N. Winȝet tr. St. Vincent of Lérins For Antiq. Catholike Fayth xxx, in Certain Tractates (1890) II. 63/7 Simon the weche, quha wes strukin be the Apostolis cursing. a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) v. iv. 5 See how the vgly Witch doth bend her browes, As if with Circe, she would change my shape. View more context for this quotation 1712 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 17 June (1948) II. 539 Am I a Laplander, am I witch,..can I make Easterly winds. 1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor vi, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. II. 109 She is a witch that should have been burned with them that suffered at Haddington. 1868 Ld. Tennyson Lucretius 15 She..Dreaming some rival, sought and found a witch Who brew'd the philtre. 2001 M. Gaitskill in Village Voice (N.Y.) 11 Dec. 75/2 A cartoon witch flying through the sky on a broom. b. spec. †(a) A (male or female) practitioner of pagan rituals, sacrifices, etc., viewed from a Christian perspective as a worshipper of Satan or evil spirits; a heathen, an infidel. Obsolete.In quot. OE¹ wicca denotes a male witch; for a discussion of the gender of the word in Old English see the etymological note. ΚΠ OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 124 Augur, wicca uel ariolus. OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens Old Eng. Glosses of MS Brussels, Royal Libr. 1650 (1974) 271 Phitonissam : i. diuinatricem, prophetissam, helhrunan uel wiccan. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 40 (MED) Me draȝþ uoulliche þet bodi of oure lhorde, aze doþ þe ereges and þe wychen and þe kueade prestes. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xviii. l. 46 ‘Cru[ci]fige,’ quod a cacchepolle, ‘I warante hym a wicche!’ a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 402 (MED) A man there was of false bileue and a wich, that leuyd not on the sacremente. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 169^v The worthy þat wicche [sc. Penthesilea] hase wastid to dethe. (b) In Europe (and later in European colonies) in the late medieval and early modern period: a person who has broken a law prohibiting the practice of witchcraft. Now historical.Although there had been earlier legislation against witchcraft as a means of committing crime and as a form of heresy (see e.g. quot. OE² at sense 1a), the papal bull ‘Summis desiderantes affectibus’ (1484) is often considered to mark the beginning of a period of heightened fear of witches across Europe, in which the practice of witchcraft came to be regarded as a crime in and of itself. In England (from 1542) and Scotland (from 1563), several pieces of legislation were passed in the 16th and 17th centuries which made witchcraft a felony punishable by death (see witchcraft act n.). A large number of witch trials took place in Britain and (later) British colonies in North America at this time, but towards the end of the 17th cent. the number of such trials declined sharply, and the Witchcraft Act of 1735 made it illegal to claim that a person was a witch, effectively marking the end of this period in Britain and its North American colonies.Less strongly associated with women than sense 1a. ΚΠ 1566 (title of work) The Examination and Confession of certaine Wytches at Chensforde in the Countie of Essex, before the Quenes maiesties Judges. 1627 R. Bernard Guide Grand-iury Men 240 The examination of that grand Witch, Lewis Gaufredy, before noble Commissioners. 1646 J. Gaule Select Cases Conscience 6 To save the trouble and Charges of the witch-finder, they will undertake to try the Witch of themselves. 1726 D. Defoe Polit. Hist. Devil i. 376 The People of Salem, in New England, pretended..that a black Man tormented them..: This black Man they would have be the Devil, employ'd by the Person whom they accus'd for a Witch. 1919 M. K. Bradby Psycho-anal. iii. ix. 118 Witches were examined during their trials for evidence of their fleshly intercourse with the devil. 2016 D. C. Allison Night Comes v. 107 The zealotic prosecution of supposed witches, who were often tortured to get bogus confessions. c. Originally: a practitioner of magic in southern Africa, viewed as analogous to a witch in the European tradition. Later also more generally (chiefly Anthropology): a practitioner of (esp. malevolent) magic in other non-Western cultural contexts.With use in the context of southern Africa, cf. witch doctor n. 1b.The research of E. E. Evans-Pritchard into the beliefs of the Zande of central Africa (cf. quot. 1937) played a key role in the development of the concept in anthropology. ΚΠ 1731 G. Medley tr. P. Kolb Present State Cape Good-Hope I. x. 138 They believe that it is in the Power of their Wizzards or Witches to lay a Spirit, and for ever prevents its Appearing or being troublesome. 1817 G. R. Nyländer Jrnl. 15 Dec. in Proc. Church Missionary Soc. 1818–9 (1819) 255/1 Children speak of seeing spirits, and of knowing something about witch-palaver. 1937 E. E. Evans-Pritchard Witchcraft, Oracles & Magic among Azande vii. 114 All except the noble class and commoners of influential position at court are at one time or another exposed by oracles as having bewitched their neighbours and therefore as witches. 1962 C. M. Turnbull Forest People xiii. 240 The BaLese are considered to be arch-sorcerers and witches. 2010 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 16 728 Witches afflict city-dwellers and business-owners; they help politicians gain power; they stall economic development and drain public resources. †2. Originally: a female spirit or monster believed to settle on and produce a feeling of suffocation in a sleeping person or animal. Later (with the): a feeling of suffocation or great distress experienced during sleep. Cf. nightmare n. 1a, 2a, and hag n.¹ 5a, 5b. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [noun] > nightmare or nocturnal demon mareeOE nightmarec1300 witch1440 night fury1552 incubus1561 night spirit1562 hag1598 ephialtes1601 tenebrio1656 night spectre1707 nocturnal1861 witch-riding1883 Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 526 Wytche, clepyd nyghte mare, epialtes. 1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 427/1 Incubus, ephialtes,..a kinde of disease called the night mare or witch. 3. a. As a term of abuse or contempt for a woman, esp. one regarded as old, malevolent, or unattractive. Cf. hag n.¹ 2a. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [noun] old wifeeOE old womanOE trota1375 carlinec1375 cronec1386 vecke1390 monea1393 hagc1400 ribibec1405 aunt?a1425 crate14.. witchc1475 mauda1500 mackabroine1546 grandam?1550 grannam1565 old lady1575 beldam1580 lucky1629 granny1634 patriarchess1639 runta1652 harridan1699 grimalkin1798 mama1810 tante1815 wifie1823 maw1826 old dear1836 tante1845 Mother Bunch1847 douairière1869 dowager1870 veteraness1880 old trout1897 tab1909 bag1924 crow1925 ma1932 Skinny Liz1940 old bag1947 old boot1958 tannie1958 LOL1960 c1475 (a1449) J. Lydgate Order of Fools (Laud) in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 453 A lusty galaunt that weddit an old wicche. c1525 J. Rastell New Commodye Propertes of Women sig. Biv^v Thow old which thou bryngyst me in grete dole. a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iv. ii. 172 Out of my doore, you Witch, you Ragge, you Baggage, you Poulcat, you Runnion, out, out. 1831 S. T. Coleridge Table-talk 7 July There are only three classes into which all the women past seventy that ever I knew were to be divided:—1. That dear old soul: 2. That old woman: 3. That old witch. 1951 S. H. Bell December Bride (1974) iii. v. 244 Rest, and let that witch fault me for doing no work about the place? 2003 Heat 29 Mar. 107/3 Charlotte hatches a revenge plan involving putting Elaine's head on a porn star, and before you can say ‘money-grabbing witch’, Elaine gets the sack from the bank. †b. A girl or young woman who is bewitchingly or captivatingly attractive or charming. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > attractiveness > [noun] > attractive person > woman morsela1450 honeypot1618 enchantera1704 peach1710 enchantress1713 sparkler1713 enslaver1728 witch1740 fascinatress1799 honey1843 biscuit1855 fairy1862 baby1863 scorcher1881 cracker1891 peacherino1896 hot tamale1897 mink1899 hotty?1913 babe1915 a bit of skirt1916 cookie1917 tomato1918 snuggle-pup1922 nifty1923 brahma1925 package1931 ginch1934 blonde bombshell1942 beast1946 smasher1948 a bit of crackling1949 nymphet1955 nymphette1961 fox1963 beaver1968 superbabe1970 brick house1977 nubile1977 yummy mummy1993 the mind > will > motivation > attraction, allurement, or enticement > [noun] > fascination or enchantment > one who fascinates or enchants > female enchantera1704 enchantress1713 witch1740 fascinatress1799 1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xxiv. 67 Mrs. Jervis, said he, take the little Witch from me. 1800 T. D. Whitaker Whalley i. 184 (note) In..1634 was acted..a play entitled The Witches of Lancaster... The term has since been transferred to a gentler species of fascination, which my fair countrywomen still continue to exert in full force. 1845 A. M. Hall Whiteboy I. ix. 137 I own I have abused Miss Ellen, and good right I had—a young witch, driving the world through Heaven's windows. 1888 ‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Children vii. 51 She who had been the blithest little witch he had ever known. 4. U.S. A person who searches for underground sources of water (or sometimes minerals, oil, etc.) using a divining rod or similar technique. Cf. water witch n. 3. ΘΚΠ 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 1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase II. lii. 206 We had ceased from digging a well,..although we had employed a great hazel-wizzard;..bringing Mr. Hum, the wizzard (or witch, there so called) to me, the two prevailed on me to go only four feet lower. 1857 D. D. Owen 2nd Rep. Geol. Surv. Kentucky 329 There may be all that the mineral witches declare there is, of lead and silver, but the Mineralogical and Geological signs do not accompany them here. 1963 M. C. Boatright Folklore of Oil Industry vii. 63 He was also something of an oil witch or doodlebug man. 2008 Internat. Herald Tribune (Nexis) 10 Oct. 2 Dowsers have been part of lore for millenniums, and many on the farm today have no doubt that they have special abilities. Richard Cotta..said he vividly remembered the first time he saw a witch. 5. A follower or practitioner of a modern pagan belief system that draws on pre-Christian religious history in its beliefs and rituals. Cf. Wiccan n. ΘΚΠ society > faith > aspects of faith > theism > paganism > [noun] > person heathenc1000 Saracenc1250 payenc1275 paynimc1300 wanbody1303 payemec1330 idolaterc1380 gentilea1382 idolasterc1386 miscreantc1400 mammeter?a1425 paganc1440 infidel1470 ethnic?a1475 image server1531 serve-image1531 heathenista1556 image-worshipper1563 Kaffir1577 giaour1589 Baalista1603 idolant1605 idolatress1613 idolist1614 idololatera1641 iconolater1654 Baalite1656 iconodulist1716 irreligionista1779 neopagan1868 iconodule1893 witch1958 society > faith > sect > non-Christian religions > other non-Christian sects > Wicca > [noun] > person witch1958 Wiccan1971 1958 Daily Herald 28 Oct. 3/6 She is..deputy priestess and Witch Maiden to a coven or group of witches in the North of England... They dance in the nude and practise ancient rites and perform magic. 1964 R. Graves in Virginia Q. Fall 553 Most English witches of my acquaintance are honest idealists. 1972 Collier's Encycl. Year Bk. 1971 10 The ancient rites of the wicca..were practiced in 1971 with no one knows what degree of success by no one knows how many witches in the United States. 2003 New Witch Oct. 55/3 Traditional Wicca or Witchcraft can provide..a sense of continuity and community that many eclectic Witches don't always share. II. Other uses. 6. figurative and in figurative contexts. Something likened to a witch, esp. something which seems to have (esp. malignant) magical powers. ΚΠ 1616 T. Gainsford Rich Cabinet f. 95^v Money is the grand witch of the world, which infects all minds, and worketh mischiefe where euer it comes: no Coniurer can allay the euill, that is raised by this deuill. 1650 W. Brough Sacred Princ. 188 Save me from vaine pleasures, the great Witches of the world. ?1708 Brit. Apollo: Q. Paper 1 No. 2. 8/1 The Four of Clubs [is] call'd Wibling's Witch..from one James Wibling, who in the Reign of..James the First, grew Rich by..Gaming, and was commonly observ'd to have the Card..in his Hand. a1822 P. B. Shelley Let. to — in Posthumous Poems (1824) 63 The quaint witch Memory sees In vacant chairs, your absent images. 2008 Austral. Financial Rev. (Nexis) 15 July 50 ANZ gets theatrical after a witch of a year. 7. a. Forming names of animals thought to be associated with or to resemble a witch in some way. Chiefly with distinguishing word.black witch, kitty-witch, water witch, etc.: see the first element.Recorded earliest in water witch n. 2a.In quot. 1391 denoting a fish, although it is unclear whether this reflects the same English word. ΚΠ 1391 in L. T. Smith Exped. Prussia & Holy Land Earl Derby (1894) 42 Et clerico coquine per manus eiusdem pro salmone, wyche, et anguillis salsis ab ipso emptis ibidem, xl marc. xiij scot.] 1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 151 Water-Witch, or Ware-Coots, are a Fowl with Down and no Feathers. 1859 Descriptive Catal. Specimens Nat. Hist. Mus. Royal Coll. Surgeons 26 The Witch (Synanceia horrida, Schneider; Scorpæna horrida, Linn.)... Hab. Indian Ocean; but there is no record from whence the present specimen was procured. 1906 West Indian Bull. 7 56 The night witch (Erebus odoratus) is not rare. This is one of the largest moths of the Antilles. 1915 C. L. Marlatt Silverfish; Injurious Househ. Insect (U.S. Dept. Agric. Farmers' Bull. No. 681) 1 Its..active efforts at concealment when uncovered, have attached considerable popular interest to it and have resulted in its receiving a number of more or less descriptive popular names, such as silverfish, silver louse, silver witch, sugarfish, etc. 2004 T. B. Larsen Butterflies Bangladesh 60 Araotes lapithis lapithis... The Witch was recorded from Barakhal in the Chittagong Hill Tracts..; it seems generally to be a scarce butterfly. b. The European storm petrel, Hydrobates pelagicus. Cf. water witch n. 2b. ΘΚΠ 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 1770 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. I. 22 The Petrel (Procellaria Pelagica, Linn.)... They..are reputed to forebode a storm, for which reason the sailors disliking their company, complimented them with the name of witches. 1813 A. Wilson Amer. Ornithol. VII. 90 They have been called Witches; Stormy Petrels; the Devil's Birds; Mother Carey's Chickens. 1957 W. L. McAtee Folk-names Canad. Birds 4 Storm Petrel... The petrels are given various names associating them with evil powers as they are supposed to be harbingers of storms..[such as] witch. 2003 M. Kirby Skellig Calling 75 At times wisping witches are seen to congregate close to land—a telltale warning for local fishermen of foul weather. †c. A pulmonate gastropod mollusc native to mangrove salt marshes in the Indo-Pacific region and having a pale shell with darker brown markings, Pythia scarabaeus (family Ellobiidae). Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1770 W. Huddesford Lister's Hist. Conchyliorum Index ii. 63 Snail or periwincle..1 The Witch or Cockchafer. 1815 E. J. Burrow Elements Conchol. 204 Helix Scarabæus, Witch or Cockchafer. d. Any of various flatfishes; esp. the flounder Glyptocephalus cynoglossus (family Pleuronectidae). ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Pleuronectiformes (flat-fish) > [noun] > family Pleuronectidae > member of genus Glyptocephalus (witch) dog's tongue1611 pole1668 witch1874 the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Pleuronectiformes (flat-fish) > [noun] > family Pleuronectidae > member of genus Hippoglossus (halibut) halibutc1430 turbot1555 roughback1795 sand dab1839 witch1874 1874 Land & Water 7 Feb. 111/2 The value of flat fish—such as rokers, skate, witches—varies very much, according to the supply. 1882 Academy 14 Oct. 280 Whitches.—These fish, well known in Grimsby and Manchester,..The term is used..to denote..the craig-fluke (Pleuronectes cynoglossus, Lin.), a kind of dab, which is taken in considerable numbers in the North Sea. 1900 Dundee Advertiser 5 Jan. 2 When whitches and megrins have arrived in any great quantity, values have speedily dropped. 1982 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 8 Dec. 37 Ironically, the most abundant of all New Zealand flounders, the witch or megrim, is useless for eating because of its multitude of long thin hair-like bones and thin watery flesh. 2019 Sea Angler 10 Jan. 33/2 A 41cm plaice and a 1lb witch (also known as grey sole) were the highlights of a recent session. 8. Mathematics. More fully witch of Agnesi. A bell-shaped plane curve symmetrical about the y axis and that approaches the x axis as an asymptote, constructed geometrically from a circle whose base is the origin.The equation of the curve is ^8a³/ _{x²+ 4a²}, where a is the radius of the circle. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > geometry > curve > [noun] > other quadratrix1656 section1665 family1705 semiparabola1728 tractrix1728 witcha1760 tractory1820 sinusoid1823 tractatrix1828 indicatrix1841 hodograph1847 tetrazomal1867 space curve1875 horograph1879 hypercycle1889 Peano curve1900 multiple arc1967 unknot1971 fractal1975 analemma1978 a1760 J. Colson tr. M. G. Agnesi Analyt. Inst. (1801) I. i. v. 222 The equation of the curve to be described, which is vulgarly called the Witch [It. che dicesi la Versiera]. 1875 B. Williamson Elem. Treat. Integral Calculus (rev. ed.) vii. 173 Find the area between the witch of Agnesi xy² = 4a² (2a − x) and its asymptote. 1901 A. B. Basset Elem. Treat. Cubic & Quartic Curves 96 Then the locus of P is a cubic called the witch of Agnesi. 2020 T. Norando & P. Magnaghi-Delfino in P. Magnaghi-Delfino et al. Faces Geom. 162 In terms of the witch itself, this means that the coordinate of the centroid of the region between the curve and its asymptotic line is not well defined, despite this region's symmetry and finite area. 9. A mechanical loom attachment used to define a pattern to be woven. Now historical.The witch was typically used to create intricate repeating designs. It consists of a set of bars, each of which has a regularly-spaced line of holes into which an arrangement of narrow pegs are inserted in order to lift groups of weft threads. This contrasts with the dobby (dobby n. 3), in which the pegs select the wefts to be lowered.Also as a modifier; see witch loom, witch top at Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > method of > figure weaving > loom > parts of or attachments for tablea1400 simple1731 draw-boy1811 card1829 needle1829 witch1829 machine card1832 Jacquard apparatus1841 Jacquard1851 griff1860 dobby1878 lappet1894 witch top1897 trap-board1900 necking cord1910 1829 Leeds Mercury 3 Oct. 2/5 One branch of the fancy trade has, however, been considerably revived by the introduction of a machine called a Witch, which enables the weaver to beautify the cloth with a great variety of flowers. 1883 T. Lees Easther's Gloss. Dial. Almondbury & Huddersfield Witch, a machine which stands on the top of a loom, and was used previously to the jacquard machine for the purpose of figuring the cloth. 1965 J. Tovey Technique of Weaving (1967) ii. ii. 16/2 On the witch the gear can be set to run either forwards or backwards continuously, making designing and pattern weaving easier. 2017 R. L. Blaszczyk Fashionability (e-book ed.) ii. Two men at the firm of George Senior and Sons had perfected the ‘Engine’ or ‘Dobbie’, a type of handloom that could produce small figured patterns, as did the Witch. Phrases P1. witch of Endor.In allusion to the biblical story in which a woman of Endor communicates with the spirit of the prophet Samuel at the behest of Saul (1 Sam. xxviii. 7–25). a. A woman who practises witchcraft or magic, esp. a necromancer. Later also: a person, esp. a woman, believed to be in contact with the spirits of the dead; a medium. Now rare.In quot. 1582 referring to the biblical character (see note at Phrases 1). ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > spiritualism > [noun] > spiritualist or medium ghost seer1799 sensitive1846 medium1851 spirit medium1851 spiritualist1851 spiritist1854 manifestationist1865 trance-medium1878 spookist1902 trumpet medium1912 witch of Endor1919 metapsychist1922 1582 T. Bentley Sixt Lampe Virginitie 81 Let none bee founde among you,..that asketh counsaile of the dead, (as the witch of Endor did).] 1599 T. Morton Treat. Nature of God i. 34 Let him but by some iniurious deed, or contumelious word, prouoke some witch of Endor, that hath the temporary power ouer some spirit. 1674 J. Wright Mock-Thyestes i, in tr. Seneca Thyestes 97 What Witch of Endor does thus fret me And when I'de stay in hell won't let me? 1804 R. C. Dallas Aubrey II. xx. 167 And was I a magician, or a witch of Endor, to detect that Mr. ——, the Piccadilly jontleman, was, true enough, on his way to Mr. James M'Knucle's. 1919 R. R. Marett in Q. Rev. Apr. 458 In the West End a séance with a Witch of Endor is doubtless to be obtained for a suitable fee. 1937 C. E. N. Macartney Peter & his Lord xiii. 145 Who would go to a seance, who wants the confirmation of crystal gazers, witches of Endor, and table tilters. b. As a term of abuse or contempt for a woman. Cf. sense 3a. ΚΠ 1677 A. Behn Town-fopp i. ii. 9 Heark ye Witch of Endor, hold your prating tongue, or I shall most well-favourdly Cudgel ye. 1819 Countess Spencer Let. 15 Nov. in Corr. Lady Lyttelton (1912) viii. 217 That witch of Endor, the Duchess of Devon, has been doing mischief of another kind. 1938 M. Gervaise Distance Enchanted vii. 126 A nutcrackery old woman whom Breeze mentally dubbed the Witch of Endor. 2019 @Adeoluwa83 21 Mar. in twitter.com (accessed 15 Mar. 2021) That witch of endor signing goblins all over the world should be sent to the abyss. †P2. colloquial. riding of the witch: a feeling of suffocation or great distress experienced during sleep; nightmare. Cf. sense 2, witch-riding n. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1607 T. Walkington Optick Glasse iv. f. 29^v The Ephialtes, which the vulgar sort tearmes the night-mare, or the riding of the witch. 1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II. 683/2 Riding of the witch, a popular phrase for the nightmare, still in use. P3. the witch is in (something): the specified thing is bewitched. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [phrase] > it is bewitched the witch is in (something)1689 1689 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk 40 When a Country-wench cannot get her Butter to come, she says, The Witch is in her Churn. 1885 W. D. Howells Rise Silas Lapham xvii. 325 She rose from her struggle with the problem, and said aloud to herself, ‘Well, the witch is in it’. 1939 T'ien Hsia Monthly May 449 I saw for the first time a cotton mill at work. ‘Dear me!’ I exclaimed, ‘the witch is in it!’ P4. colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.). (as) nervous as a witch: very restless. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > restlessness > [phrase] > state of extreme restlessness as nervous as a witch1853 like a cat on hot bricks1886 1853 Water-cure Jrnl. (N.Y.) Apr. 75/2 The windows were down, the air close, and the patient as nervous as a witch. 1911 F. M. Crawford Man Overboard in Uncanny Tales (1917) 132 She's been as nervous as a witch all day. 1992 Times 1 June 29/5 In the morning before the race, one or two of those who spoke to him [sc. Nigel Mansell] had said he was as nervous as a witch. P5. as cold (also dry, etc.) as a witch's tit (also witch's teat): see witch's tit n. Phrases, witch's teat n. Phrases. old witch: see old adj. Compounds 4. Compounds C1. a. As a modifier. (a) With the sense ‘of, belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, a witch or witches’.Recorded earliest in witchcraft n. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [adjective] witchOE wielfulc1275 magica1393 superstitiousc1425 diabolic1485 magicala1492 prestigious?1534 sorcerous1546 witching1567 wizardly1588 wizard1638 stoicheiotical1646 witchcraftical1676 maleficious1684 Arabian-night1808 Magian1818 wizard-like1859 OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 182 Animað hraðe þa reðan wiccan, seo þe ðus awent þurh wiccecræft manna mod. c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 93 Þei þat..tenden to wiche falsnes [L. magicis falsitatibus] in hailes or tempestis. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Judges ix. 37 One bonde of men commeth by the waye to y^e witch Oke. 1642 T. Fuller Holy State v. iii. 368 By a Witch-bridle they can make a fair of horses of an acre of besome-weed. 1693 C. Mather Wonders Invisible World 7 Which may perhaps prove no small part of the Witch-Plot in the issue. 1822 P. B. Shelley tr. J. W. von Goethe May-day Night in Liberal 1 130 Witch legions thicken around and around. 1891 J. C. Atkinson Forty Years Moorland Parish (ed. 2) 87 The copious witch-lore of the district. 1985 Times Lit. Suppl. 28 June 728/1 No wholly satisfactory analysis of the European witch persecution has yet appeared. 2009 P. Carr-Gomm & R. Heygate Bk. Eng. Magic v. 176 Others, who will have engaged in no magic whatsoever, were simply casualties of witch-hysteria and sometimes mental illness. (b) With the sense ‘used in witchcraft or by witches in their enchantments’.Recorded earliest in witch cake n. See also witch-water n. ΚΠ 1616 A. Roberts Treat. Witchcraft 54 Drake the afflicted womans father, had beene to aske counsell, and made a Witch Cake. 1849 H. Mayo On Truths Pop. Superstit. 125 The witches..by witch-broths..would induce in themselves and in their pupils a heavy stupor. a1857 R. A. Vaughan Hours with Mystics (1860) II. 256 They fare like Lucius..to whom Fotis has given the wrong witch-salve. 1964 J. A. M. Meerloo Hidden Communion ii. 28 He has attained this euphoria through rubbing his skin with the so-called witch ointment, containing the extract of belladonna or coco leaves. 1992 Times of India 7 Sept. (Saturday Times section) 1/4 The powders were typical eye-of-newt witch-brew concoctions. (c) With the sense ‘by a witch or witches’.With past participles.Recorded earliest in witch-ridden adj. at Compounds 2. ΚΠ 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. iii. ii. 123 Such as are troubled with Incubus, or witch ridden, as we call it, if they lie on their backs. 1898 R. Blakeborough Wit N. Riding Yorks. 160 One of the houses was suspected of being witch-held, and every thing about the place witch-stricken. 2016 Linrary Jrnl. 15 Feb. A witch-haunted small town, a teenager possessed by the devil, and a religious pilgrimage with a whiff of brimstone. (d) With the sense ‘like or resembling (that of) a witch; as —— as a witch’.In quot. 1801 approaching the sense ‘magical’. ΚΠ 1781 C. Johnstone Hist. John Juniper II. iii. ii. 139 The Nabob..had as constitutional an aversion to cold iron, as witch-wise Solomon. 1801 W. Scott Glenfinlas in M. G. Lewis Tales of Wonder I. 134 And bending o'er his harp, he flung His wildest witch-notes on the wind. 1913 D. H. Lawrence Love Poems p. xlv A widow of forty-five, A tough old otchel wi' long Witch teeth. 1960 E. Estes Witch Family (2000) vi. 67 They had never seen pink or blue dresses before, only witch black ones. 1982 Sunday Times 23 May 76/1 Her mother, ‘Brave Orchid’, is the true subject of the first book—preposterous, crafty, superstitious, peasant-dumb and witch-wise. b. With other nouns, with the sense ‘that is both a witch and a ——’.Recorded earliest in witch-man n., witch-woman n. ΚΠ a1538 A. Abell Roit or Quheill of Tyme f. 76^v in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Operatioun of the ewill spreit & the wiche man or woman as instrument he tholis this operatioune in punitioun of synnaris. a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 514 (heading) How King Duffois was witchit be..ane Witche Carling that duelt in Forres. 1680 in Extracts Kirk-session Rec. Dunfermline 1640–89 72 Jonet Burn called the said Ceseill Yeld son—an witchbird. 1817 W. Scott Harold vi. vi. 177 There of the witch-brides lay each skeleton. 1884 Folk-lore Jrnl. 2 258 A dog cannot catch a witch hare. 1958 J. R. R. Tolkien Let. June (1995) 272 The Witch-king, their leader, is more powerful in all ways that the others. 2001 T. Courtenay Dear Tom 116 Dark of the Moon was the story of Barbara Allen, who marries a witch boy. 2010 B. G. Walker Man Made God i. 71 The Christian Church officially diabolized all the deities of pagan peoples, concentrating especially on female deities who thus became succubae or dragons or witch-queens. c. With agent nouns and participles, forming compounds in which witch expresses the object of the underlying verb, such as witch-burner, witch-burning, witch-seeker.Typically in the context of the hunting or persecution of people accused or suspected of witchcraft. See also witchfinder n., witch-finding n., witch-hunter n., witch-hunting n., witch-hunting adj., witch-pricker n., witch-smelling n. ΚΠ 1610 J. Healey tr. J. L. Vives in tr. St. Augustine Citie of God iv. viii. 164 Cunina. The cradle-keeper and wich-chaser [L. fascinum submouet]. 1646 J. Gaule Select Cases Conscience 5 This suspition, though it bee but late,..yet is it enough to send for the Witch-searchers, or witch-seekers. a1675 B. Whitelocke Memorials Eng. Affairs (1682) anno 1649 418/2 That the Witchtryer taking a Pin, and thrusting it into the Skin, in many parts of their Bodies, they were insensible of it. 1894 Advance (Chicago) 26 Apr. Do we ever hear of Episcopalians as witch burners? 1909 Strand Mag. 38 692/1 They had taken to witch-burning. 1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. ix. [Scylla & Charybdis] 196 A Scotch philosophaster with a turn for witchroasting. 2006 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 21 Dec. 66/4 The inadvertent ingestion by witch-accusers of hallucinogenic poisons. 2017 Reason May 67/2 Sale acknowledges witch burning and lynch mobbery as regrettable aberrations. C2. witch act n. now historical any of various Acts of Parliament relating to witchcraft; = witchcraft act n. ΚΠ 1753 World 23 Aug. 203 But it is the repeal of an act of parliament, and not the act itself, that I am now about to complain of. The act I mean is the Witch Act. 1889 Academy 16 Mar. 190/1 The Witch Act became law in 1604; and between 1603 and 1680 the number of the victims of this superstition far exceeded that of the sufferers under that of the sufferers under the Holy Office in an equal space of time. 1992 J. S. Cooper-Forst To rend & teare Bodies of Men (Ph.D. diss., Univ. New Hampsh.) 83 After ascending the throne of England as James I in 1603, he..within a year pressed Parliament into passing a ‘witch act’ that became known as the Statute of 1604. witch ball n. (a) a puffball fungus; (b) a tumbleweed; (c) a hollow ball of decorated, usually coloured or silvered glass, originally used as a charm against witchcraft. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > valued plants and weeds > [noun] > weed > rolling mass of weeds or tumble-weed witch ball1856 tumble-weed1887 the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [noun] > charm or amulet > against witchcraft antidemoniac1603 praefiscinal1652 horseshoe1665 witch-stone1782 witch ball1913 society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > ornamental glass-work > [noun] > glass-colouring > other decorative or coloured glass > ball of Venetian ball1852 witch ball1913 1692 T. Forrester Counter-essay vi. 47 And like the little bag which Children finds in the Fields, and call the witch-ball, will be found to evaporat into Smoak with a smal touch. 1856 Gardeners' Chron. & Agric. Gaz. 9 Feb. 84/2 The witch-balls, consisting of round compact rolled masses of dead herbaceous stems, present a similar but even more striking instance of the power of the winds. 1913 Country Life 15 Feb. 252/1 I have in my possession a dark green glass globe seven and a-half inches in circumference with a small metal ring attached to suspend it by. This is said to be a genuine old witch-ball, and I shall be much interested if any of your readers can give me information about such balls and the superstitions connected with them. 1939 A. H. Verrill Wonder Plants & Plant Wonders xiii. 187 The witch-balls or tumbleweeds. 1973 Appalachian Jrnl. 1 224/1 The giant puff ball (fungi spore cases) was a witch-ball. 2014 Spirit & Destiny Apr. 78/3 According to folk tales, witch balls would entice spirits with their bright colours and then capture them inside. witch bell n. (also witch bells) any of several plants having tubular or bell-shaped flowers; spec. the harebell Campanula rotundifolia, and the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea.Cf. witches' bells n., fairy bells n. 1. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > bellflowers bell-flower1578 bluebell1578 Canterbury bells1578 Coventry bells1578 Coventry Marians1578 Coventry rapes1578 fair-in-sight1578 gauntlet1578 haskwort1578 Marian's violet1578 throatwort1578 lady's looking glass1597 mariet1597 Mercury's violet1597 peach-bells1597 steeple bells1597 uvula-wort1597 Venus looking-glass1597 campanula1664 Spanish bell1664 corn-violet1665 rampion1688 Venus' glass1728 harebell1767 heath-bell1805 witch bell1808 slipperwort1813 meadow-bell1827 greygle1844 platycodon1844 lady's thimble1853 kikyo1884 witches' bells1884 balloon flower1901 fairy thimble1914 mountain bell1923 the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > foxglove and allied flowers > foxglove foxglovec1000 London button1552 wine-pot herb1552 finger1562 finger flower1562 lady's glove1575 foxter1623 fox-finger1657 fox1684 bloody finger1789 witch bell1808 fairy fingers1811 fairy thimble1813 dead men's bells1818 witches' thimbles1820 fairy bells1821 fairy glove1841 flap-dock1846 cow-flop1847 pop-glove1847 lady's thimble1853 Scotch mercury1853 poppy1856 fairy petticoats1864 finger root1870 fairy weed1871 pop-dock1878 witches' bells1884 1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Witch-bell, round-leaved Bell-flower, Campanula rotundifolia. 1899 Morris Tribune (Minnesota, U.S.) 9 Sept. 8/3 They [sc. witches] are supposed to have had their favourite flowers as well as plants, and in England at the present time foxglove is spoken of as ‘witch bells’ and harebells as ‘witches' thimbles’. 2001 C. Perry World of Flowers 28/1 The harebell was also known as devil's bell, witch bell and witch thimble, and was not picked, for bad luck would follow. witch bottle n. historical a stone or glass bottle used in rituals intended to counter the effects of, or as a charm against, witchcraft.Such bottles were filled with various substances or items, e.g. urine, nail clippings, and pins, and then heated or burned in order to break a witch's spell, or buried beneath (or hidden within) the house as a protective charm. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > object used as protection against witch bottle1831 witch brooch1871 witch post1900 1831 Mechanics' Mag. 29 Oct. 70/2 No dread of this gentleman's connection with the bottomless pit is suspected by persons who obtain similar witch-bottles of Canton phosphorus. 1966 G. E. Evans Pattern under Plough vi. 74 Under the hearthstone was the spot most frequently chosen to bury the witch-bottle. 2020 A. Kiernan Bk. of Altars & Sacred Spaces 113/1 It was thought that as long as the witch bottle remained whole, the witch could not cause any harm. witch bowl n. a decorative glass bowl of roughly globular shape, with a circular opening at the top. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > [noun] > bowl > specific types of bread bowl1622 lavel1658 tazza1824 mixing bowl1869 sebilla1875 presentation bowl1896 lekane1905 bell-crater1921 witch bowl1926 hanging-bowl1940 1926 Dunstan (N.Z.) Times 2 Aug. Personally I find a crystal, or an old witch-bowl if possible, is best for the purpose. 2000 L. Jackson 20th Cent. Factory Glass 229/2 Her patterns were intended to complement the form of the vessel, such as..the Witch bowls and vases with spiralling mitre cutting. witch brooch n. originally Scottish (now rare and historical) a brooch worn as a charm against witchcraft. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > object used as protection against witch bottle1831 witch brooch1871 witch post1900 the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > brooch or pin > [noun] > other brooches breast brooch1625 breastpin1779 mourning pin1822 bosom-brooch1835 witch brooch1871 mantle-knot1896 fáinne1919 1871 Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotl. 1868–70 8 331 The pin is fixed in much the same way as in those that are sometimes called Celtic or witch brooches. 1913 Hastings's Encycl. Relig. & Ethics VI. 559/1 Such amulets..were also known in Scotland as ‘witch-brooches’. 2017 K. Gomez Little Bk. Staffs. (e-book ed.) The Staffordshire witch brooch was heart shaped with unequal sides made of silver and set with eighteen crystals. † witch butter n. Obsolete any of various organisms occurring in gelatinous masses; = witches' butter n. (b) at Compounds 3. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > [noun] > tremella fungi fairy butter1700 witches' butter1718 Tremella1760 witch butter1847 witches' meat1849 1847 Anglo Amer. 26 June 220/2 The Devil is a humorous, pleasant gentleman; but his table is coarse enough, which makes the children often sick on their way home, the product being the so called witch-butter found in the fields. 1864 Intellect. Observer Feb. 13 The jelly alluded to has certainly not fallen from the sky, and [we] can pronounce it to be the plant..variously named by other authorities Nostoc, Tremella, ‘witch-butter’, and ‘shot stars’. 1895 C. J. Barton Evangel Ahvallah xvi. 161 Sticks upon whose bark were lichens and splashes of white which time had penciled with here and there touches of ‘witch-butter’. witch cake n. now historical a cake used in magical rites, or as a means of countering the effects of witchcraft. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > preparation used to detect witches witch cake1616 the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > apparatus used by sievea1585 witch cake1810 1616 A. Roberts Treat. Witchcraft 54 Drake the afflicted womans father, had beene to aske counsell, and made a Witch Cake. 1693 I. Mather Cases Conscience 52 Many..Magical experiments have been used to try witches by. Of this sort is that of..making a witch-cake with that urine. 1810 A. Cunningham et al. Remains Nithsdale & Galloway Song 282 The baking of the ‘Witch Cake’, with its pernicious virtues, is a curious process. 1913 Evening Tel. & Post (Dundee) 27 June 6/4 Round Flamborough Head you will have good luck if you hang up a ‘witch cake’ in the kitchen, taking the precaution, of course, to burn the cake once a year and replace it with another one. 2015 F. G. Mixon Public Choice Econ. & Salem Witchcraft Hysteria iv. 44 A primary ingredient in witch cakes is rye meal, which is then mixed with the affected urine of suspected victims of witchcraft. witch-chap n. regional (now rare and historical) a mummer participating in the celebration of Plough Monday; = plough witch n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > mime > mumming > [noun] > mummer > types of witch-mana1538 plough bullock1762 plough stot1817 witch-chap1827 plough bullocker1848 plough jag1852 plough jack1859 plough witcher1860 oonchook1885 janney1896 plough witcha1903 hodener1909 1827 J. Clare Shepherd's Cal. 156 ‘Keep secrets, Sim’, she said, ‘I need them now, The witch-chaps come’. 1976 K. Bonfiglioli Something Nasty in Woodshed ix. 98 ‘Let me get it clear in my head,’ George said. ‘This mummery is supposed to discourage the witch-chap and make him feel that we're in with demons and things as he is, so he'd better lay off, is that it?’ witch craze n. chiefly historical a period of widespread belief in witches accompanied by the hunt for and persecution of people (esp. women) believed to be practising witchcraft; spec. the zealous campaign directed against suspected witches which took place in Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, and was supported by ecclesiastical and civil legislation (cf. sense 1b(b)). ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [noun] > mania for witch mania1823 witch craze1880 the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > witch-hunt witch hunt1853 witch craze1880 1880 C. C. Coffin Old Times in Colonies xxv. 310 The saddest story in the history of our country is that of the witch craze at Salem, Massachusetts. 1967 H. Trevor-Roper European Witch-craze 16th & 17th Cents. iii. 105 The Alps and the Pyrenees, the original cradle of the witch-craze, would long remain its base. 1976 R. Kieckhefer European Witch Trials ii. 23 The intense witch hunting of this stage [during the mid to late 1400s] anticipated, if it did not equal, the witch craze of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 2019 Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. (Nexis) 25 Sept. 17 In 1596, as trials took place across the north and north-east of Scotland amid the height of the witch craze, she was convicted of 18 counts of witchcraft. witch dance n. (also witches' dance) a ritual dance performed by witches. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > dance performed by witch dance1824 1824 C. R. Maturin Albigenses IV. i. 20 As they hopped and hobbled their witch-dance round the cauldron, one of them repeated incessantly, hurr, hurr, hurr, harr, hus, hus. 1921 M. Murray Witch-cult in W. Europe v. 132 The round dance was..essentially a witch dance. 1999 Afr. Affairs 98 175 They perform witch dances and settle down to share human flesh at their meetings. witch-fire n. (a) a luminous electrical discharge which appears around a protruding object, such as a ship’s mast or a church spire, during a storm; = St. Elmo's fire at St. Elmo n.; (b) light seen in seawater from bioluminescent organisms. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > discharge of electricity > [noun] > luminous glow-discharge1844 witch-fire1892 streamer1910 the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > lightning > bead or forked lightning > St. Elmo's fire heaven's fireOE St. Elmo's fire1561 Hermes' fire1611 corposant1650 furole1656 Castor1708 composant1751 storm-light1843 storm-firea1847 dead-fire1854 witch-fire1892 the world > matter > light > light emitted under particular conditions > [noun] > phosphorescence > of the sea > phosphorescent light on or in the sea briny1602 sea-light1755 sea-fire1815 milky sea1821 mareel1866 mar-fire1881 milk sea1898 witch-fire1947 1892 R. L. Stevenson Let. 28 Oct. in Vailima Lett. (1896) II. xxiii. 77 Belle, my mother and I rode home about midnight in a fine display of lightning and witch-fires. 1896 R. Kipling Seven Seas 28 The witch-fire climbed our channels, And flared on vane and truck. 1947 L. R. Brightwell Sea-shore Life Brit. x. 104 Stand on a pier or jetty..on a dark night, and as each little wave breaks, its curling top seems capped with a bluish green light... This was the ‘witch fire’ that awed the early mariners, and to-day sea-farers still say that the water ‘burns’. 1992 A. Wells Forbidden Magic x. 237 It was like the witch fire he had seen dancing on the masts of ships before a storm, silver as a polished blade. 2004 W. H. McAlister Life on Matagorda Island ix. 187 On rare nights every breaking wave crest ignites in witch-fire; and on moist summer nights heavy blobs of phosphor rise and course erratically across the central grassland. witch gowan n. chiefly Scottish any of several yellow or white flowers, or plants bearing such flowers; spec. a dandelion or globeflower; also as a modifier.Now only in lists of alternative names for these flowers or plants. ΚΠ 1810 A. Cunningham et al. Remains Nithsdale & Galloway Song 110 Witch-gowan flowers, are large yellow gowans, with a stalk filled with pernicious sap, resembling milk, which when anointed on the eyes is believed to cause instant blindness. 1841 Fraser's Mag. Jan. 116/1 There lay Janet hersel on the bed.., dead and cauld,..with a wreath of witch-gowans—I doubt she wasna what she should hae been, after a'—round her head. 1956 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 69 15 The Dandelion is called Horse Gowan, Milk Gowan, Witch Gowan, and Yellow Gowan. witchgrass n. North American (a) couch grass, Elymus repens; (b) a North American bunch grass, Panicum capillare, frequently regarded as a weed. Panicum capillare is also called old-witch grass. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun] > panic grasses panic?1440 summer grass1531 panicle1577 manna-grass1597 panic grass1597 panicum1739 crab-grass1743 witchgrass1790 old-witch grass1859 vine-bamboo1871 Vandyke1889 the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > grasses perceived as weeds > [noun] > couch-grass quitcheOE quicka1400 quicken?c1425 couch-grass1578 twitch1588 twitch grass1588 dog grass1597 sea dog's grass1597 quick grass1617 couch1637 wheat-grass1668 scutch1686 quickenings1762 quicken grass1771 spear-grass1784 squitch1785 witchgrass1790 felt1794 dog-wheat1796 creeping wheat1819 quack1822 switch-grass1840 couch-wheat1884 1790 S. Deane New-Eng. Farmer 230/2 Quitch-grass, called also Witch-Grass, Twitch-Grass, Couch-Grass, Dutch-Grass, and Dogs-Grass, a most obstinate and troublesome weed. 1875 Flora Canada 27 P[anicum] capillare—Witch Grass. 1910 Rhodora 12 27 With the exception of the well known garden-weed, Witch-grass or Quick-grass (Agropyron repens), they are ordinarily overlooked by any one but the technical botanist. 1969 D. F. Costello Prairie World 21 Spring-flowering grasses include buffalo grass (Buchloë dactyloides), poverty oat grass (Danthonia spicata), Indian ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides), witchgrass (Panicum capillare), and sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus). 2017 @TamlynRogers 4 Aug. in twitter.com (accessed 25 Nov. 2020) Witchgrass grows wild at the roadside. witchhopple n. U.S. the hobblebush, Viburnum lantanoides. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > viburnums or guelder rose and allies > [noun] > American wayfaring-tree moose bush1784 wayfaring tree1785 sheep-berry1814 witchhopple1826 hobble-bush1842 hopple1853 wayfarer's tree1853 devil's shoestring1860 tangle-leg1860 1826 J. Burlingame Poor Man's Physician 268 Take spikenard root, the bark of sweet apple-tree root, the bark of the root of witch hopple. 1980 J. E. Keller Adirondack Wilderness vii. 69 The thick, tangled, low-growing hobble-bush, or witch-hopple, can be so dense as to trip hikers repeatedly. 2007 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 9 Sept. v. 10 Copious blooms of clintonia, trout lily and witchhopple were along the trail. witch-lock n. a tangle or matted lock of hair, often supposed to be made by a witch; cf. witch knot n. 1a, elf-lock n. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > hair > hair of head > lock or locks > [noun] lockeOE forelockc1000 hair-lockc1000 earlockOE foretopc1290 tressc1290 lachterc1375 fuke1483 sidelock1530 proudfallc1540 widow's locka1543 folding1552 fore-bush1591 flake1592 witch knot1598 tuft1603 French lock1614 head-lock1642 witch-lock1682 rat's tail1706 side-curl1749 scalp knot1805 rat-tail1823 straggler1825 scalping-tuft1826 scalp-lock1827 aggravator1835 soap-lock1840 payess1845 stringleta1852 list1859 tresslet1882 drake's tail1938 1682 H. More Contin. Collection 41 in J. Glanvil Saducismus Triumphatus (ed. 2) This Magical matting of the Daughter's hair into a Witch-lock. 1858 Sunday Morning Republican (St. Louis, Missouri) 26 Sept. You have frightened Maude half to death, shaken my hair out in witch locks,..and caused me to lose both handkerchief and brooch, in the rapidity of this forced march. 2002 T. Ashley Every Woman for Herself xvi. 117 She stared up at him between witch-locks of violently auburn hair. witch loom n. now historical a type of industrial loom or handloom which has a witch attachment fitted to define the pattern woven (see sense 9). ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > method of > figure weaving > loom shawl-looma1792 draw-loom1808 Jacquard loom1841 witch loom1862 1862 N. Amer. & U.S. Gaz. 26 Aug. (advt.) The mill contains..looms, part Jacquard's and part Jenks' 24 shaft witch loom. 1898 E. A. Posselt Recent Improvem. Textile Machinery i. 44 Box-motion for Witch Looms. 1987 Dalesman Aug. 393/1 On display are two looms—the four shaft treadle loom and the witch loom. witch-man n. (a) a man who practises witchcraft or magic, a wizard (cf. sense 1a and man-witch n. at man n.¹ Compounds 1b); (b) regional (now rare and historical) a mummer participating in the celebration of Plough Monday; = plough witch n. (cf. witch-chap n.). ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > [noun] wielerOE jugglera1100 wielea1350 magicianc1375 sorcerc1400 warlockc1400 mage?a1425 sorcerer1526 witch-mana1538 wizarda1557 wise man1562 cunning man1594 man-witch1601 wonder-master1603 sorcerist1624 talisman1646 ob1659 fascinator1677 varlet1701 Magian1716 brujo1758 mediciner1845 bomoh1851 pellar1865 trollman1865 baloi1871 magic-man1905 Wiccan1971 society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > mime > mumming > [noun] > mummer > types of witch-mana1538 plough bullock1762 plough stot1817 witch-chap1827 plough bullocker1848 plough jag1852 plough jack1859 plough witcher1860 oonchook1885 janney1896 plough witcha1903 hodener1909 a1538 A. Abell Roit or Quheill of Tyme f. 76^v in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Operatioun of the ewill spreit & the wiche man or woman as instrument he tholis this operatioune in punitioun of synnaris. 1615 Shorte Declar. li. sig. M4^v A witchman did confesse..that when they wold desire anie Tempeest to be stired vp in the Aire they Incalled the Prince of Deuills. 1851 T. Sternberg Dial. & Folk-lore Northants. Witch-men, guisers who go about on Plough-Monday. 1882 W. Featherstonhaugh in Folk-lore Jrnl. (1883) 1 91 A farmer, having a horse taken ill, sent for a well-known witchman. 1990 U. K. Le Guin Tehanu 98 There's witch-men of little account, witch-tinkers and the like, some of them'll try their own spells of beguilement on country women, but for all I can see, those spells don't amount to much. 2011 N. Pennick In Field & Fen vii. 74 The Witch-men described by Sternberg, stuffed straw into their smocks to give the illusion of humped backs. witch mania n. chiefly historical a state or period of widespread belief in witches, accompanied by the hunt for and persecution of people (esp. women) believed to be practising witchcraft, esp. in Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries; cf. witch craze n. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [noun] > mania for witch mania1823 witch craze1880 1823 J. McHenry Spectre of Forest II. v. 67 Indeed, until the witch-mania infected the country, there had never been either prison or prisoners seen in the sober village of Derby. 1994 Esquire Mar. 78/2 Just as with those who spoke out against the witch mania, skeptics of recovered memories have been reviled as heretics. witch-mark n. now chiefly historical a mark or protuberance on the skin, taken to indicate that a person (typically a woman) is a witch. [Compare earlier witch's mark n. at Compounds 3] . ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > spot or mark > witch-mark witch's mark1624 witch-mark1644 1644 in P. H. Brown Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1908) 2nd Ser. VIII. 101 They causit thair officeris..tirre us mother naked, rype and search our bodies and secreitt memberis for witchmarkis. 1712 Impossibility of Witchcraft Pref. sig. A3^v They had found suppos'd Witch-marks, by putting Sharp Pins and Needles into Warts. 1900 J. Fiske Old Virginia & her Neighbours II. xiv. 245 She was searched for witch marks and imprisoned. 2009 Early Theatre 12 70 Intimate searches of an accused witch's body for witch-marks betraying where her familiar sucked her blood were often part of witch-trials in England. witch meal n. a fine flammable powder consisting of ripe spores of the common clubmoss, Lycopodium clavatum; (also) the clubmoss itself.Cf. vegetable brimstone n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > other vegetable materials > [noun] > lycopodium witch meal1792 lycopodium1836 vegetable brimstone1838 lycopode1866 vegetable sulphur1887 1792 B. Thompson in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 82 66 Semen lycopodii, commonly called witch-meal. 1897 Homœpathic Pharmacœpia U.S. (Amer. Inst. Homœpathy) ii. 375 Lycopodium clavatum... Synonyms..; English, Club moss, Stag's horn, Witch meal, Wolf's claw, Vegetable sulphur. 1973 E. Hvass Plants that Feed & Serve Us 168/1 Witch-meal has been used in fireworks as it burns with a shining flame... In the old days it was believed that witch-meal sprinkled about was a protection against witches and sorcery. witch meeting n. now chiefly historical a supposed meeting of witches, and sometimes demons or other supernatural or magical beings, often conceived of as taking place at midnight; = sabbath n. 3.Cf. witches' meeting n., witch sabbath n., witches' Sabbath n. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > meeting of witches' Sabbath1613 Sabbat1652 sabbath1660 coven1662 witches' meeting1693 witch meeting1693 witch sabbath1826 1693 ‘C. M.’ True Acct. Tryals Divers Witches, at Salem 7 Divers Women that had been of her Conversation, accus'd her being at Witch-Meetings, and of Eating and Drinking with the Devil. 1738 T. Salmon Mod. Hist. XXXI. 297 Mr. John Bradstreet,..being accused of afflicting a poor Dog, and riding upon him through the Air to Witch-Meetings. 1867 J. Mackenzie Hist. Scotl. lxv. 502 The schoolmaster, in his retracted confession, had spoken of a witch-meeting held at North Berwick Kirk. 2012 New Eng. Q. 85 253 Nathaniel Hawthorne's tale of a young Puritan of Salem Village who loses his Faith after attending—or dreaming that he has attended—a witch meeting in or around 1692. witch-pap n. now historical a supernumerary nipple, or another nipple-like protuberance on the skin, believed to be a distinguishing mark of a witch. [Compare slightly earlier witch's teat n.] ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > mole molea1398 honey spot1547 tongue-mole1562 mould1573 molehill1650 witch's teat1654 honey drop?a1800 honey-marka1803 rose-mole1877 witch-pap1886 witch's tit1932 1664 in M. Hale Coll. Mod. Relations Witches (1693) I. 58 I have, I confess, a Witch-pap, which is Sucked by the Unclean Spirit. 1886 R. Holland Gloss. Words County of Chester Witch-pap, a mole which hangs or projects from the skin. 1919 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 4 Jan. 19/2 A number of records are given of what were described as bigges or witch-paps near the anus or pudenda, but explicitly stated not to be piles. 1934 Folk-lore 45 266 The woman as laid 'er out found she'd gotten a ‘witch-pap’—like a little pap, it were, a-tween 'er two natural ones. 1976 J. Obelkevich Relig. & Rural Soc. 286 In Henry Winn's youth a witch at West Ashby was said to have a ‘witch-pap’ as well. witch post n. historical (in northern England, esp. Yorkshire) a wooden post, usually of mountain ash, marked with a cross and built into a house as a protection against witchcraft or magic. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > object used as protection against witch bottle1831 witch brooch1871 witch post1900 1900 St. Louis & Canad. Photographer Nov. 529/2 In many old cottages in Yorkshire may be seen similar posts made of wood, called witch posts, about the same height, placed inside the kitchen door,..to keep witches and evil spirits from coming round the corner. 1971 K. Thomas Relig. & Decline of Magic xvii. 543 Other preservatives included ‘witch-posts’ built into the structure of the house. 2015 S. Gordon in C. Houlbrook & N. Armitage Materiality of Magic iv. 72 A witch-post from East End Cottage, Egton, currently archived in Whitby Museum, shows how the saltire was typically incised in the upper part of the timber. witch-pricker n. Scottish historical a person who claims to discover if a person is a witch by sticking pins into that person's skin; cf. pricker n. 2b. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > one who detects witches pricker1661 witch-pricker1841 1841 C. Mackay Mem. Pop. Delusions II. 230 In aged persons there should be some spot on the body totally devoid of feeling. It was the object of the witch-pricker to discover this spot, and the unhappy wight who did not bleed when pricked upon it, was doomed to the death. 2003 Scotl. Mag. July 75/1 The witch-pricker travelled the country rooting out witches, using long pins on the bodies of women until a mark was discovered. witch-proof adj. impervious or resistant to witchcraft; protected against witches. ΚΠ 1840 C. Dickens Master Humphrey's Clock I. 56 By dint of constantly inveigling old ladies and disposing of them in this summary manner, he acquired the reputation of a great public character, and as he received no harm in these pursuits beyond a scratched face or so, he came in course of time to be considered witch-proof. 1929 Sunday Express 13 Jan. 3/4 Many a successful business man..will drive to his modern office in the most luxurious of up-to-date motor-cars which has first of all been made ‘witch-proof’ with small amulets nailed to the dashboard. 2000 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 6 477 The women set off for their witch-proof dance ground. witch-ridden adj. tormented, beset, or ‘ridden’ by a witch while asleep at night (see sense 2); (hence) harassed, troubled, tormented; cf. hag-ridden adj., witch-riding n. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being harassed > [adjective] > as by an evil spirit obsessed1531 witch-ridden1621 hag-ridden1685 hag-rid1691 nightmared1839 the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of being eerie > [adjective] > afflicted by nightmare witch-ridden1621 hag-ridden1654 hag-rid1691 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. iii. ii. 123 Such as are troubled with Incubus, or witch ridden, as we call it, if they lie on their backs. 1791 W. Hutton Hist. Derby 226 That weak and witch-ridden monarch, James the First. 2016 Evening News (Norwich) (Nexis) 27 Oct. The Yarnsmith of Norwich Dave Tonge tells stories of long dead monks and witch-ridden nags, girls with golden arms, old men with long boney fingers and even a deal with the Devil! witch sabbath n. (also witch sabbat) a supposed meeting of witches, and sometimes demons or other supernatural or magical beings, often conceived of as taking place at midnight; cf. sabbath n. 3. [Compare earlier witches' Sabbath n. at Compounds 3.] Witches are typically depicted as flying to and from such meetings, which are often characterized as featuring orgiastic and cannibalistic rites and satanic rituals. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > meeting of witches' Sabbath1613 Sabbat1652 sabbath1660 coven1662 witches' meeting1693 witch meeting1693 witch sabbath1826 1826 Q. Rev. June 139 The jabber of fiends and sorcerers in their witch-sabbath presents an unearthly mixture. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands III. 253 In the South, the witchsabbaths are believed to be held around the Sacred Walnut-tree of Benevento. 1989 E. Rose Razor for Goat (2003) viii. 175 The conventional picture of the witch-Sabbat was now [at the end of the Middle Ages] fully formed as it had not been in the thirteenth century. 2009 Hist. Relig. 49 128 Metamorphosis into animals was certainly well-known across Europe as an act of witchcraft, but in Western European cases it was principally related to travel to distant witch Sabbaths. witch-smelling n. the activity of seeking out supposed witches; (figurative) persecution (cf. witch-hunting n. 2).Frequently with reference to southern African traditions and practices. [Compare Zulu -nuka to smell, to smell out, to divine, to suspect.] ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > witch-hunt > action of witch-huntinga1637 witch-finding1646 witch-smelling1852 1852 C. Kraitsir Glossology v. 219 The preceding more brutal ages of migrations, crusades, witch-smelling, heretic-roasting, etc., times. 1882 Newcastle Courant 8 Sept. 4/5 The Zulus are said to expect their monarch to revive all the ancient glories of witch-smelling and spear-washing. 1916 H. G. Wells in Peking Gaz. 30 Nov. 8/3 I do not think there is much good in a kind of witch-smelling among Italian enterprises to find the hidden German. 2014 D. Howes & C. Classen Ways of Sensing iv. 98 The ongoing custom of ‘witch-smelling’ in parts of Africa, for example, had led to many people (often women) being assaulted and even killed for supposedly practicing witchcraft. witch stitch n. herringbone stitch. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > sewn or ornamented textile fabric > [noun] > embroidery or ornamental sewing > stitch > other chain-stitch1598 French knot1623 picot1623 petty-point1632 tent-stitch1639 brede-stitch1640 herringbone stitch1659 satin stitch1664 feather-stitch1835 Gobelin stitch1838 crowfoot1839 seedingc1840 German stitch1842 petit point1842 long stitch1849 looped stitch1851 hem-stitch1853 loop-stitch1853 faggot stitch1854 spider-wheel1868 dot stitch1869 picot stitch1869 slip-stitch1872 coral-stitch1873 stem stitch1873 rope stitch1875 Vienna cross stitch1876 witch stitch1876 pin stitch1878 seed stitch1879 cushion-stitch1880 Japanese stitch1880 darning-stitch1881 Kensington stitch1881 knot-stitch1881 bullion knot1882 cable pattern1882 Italian stitch1882 lattice-stitch1882 queen stitch1882 rice stitch1882 shadow-stitch1882 ship-ladder1882 spider-stitch1882 stem1882 Vandyke stitch1882 warp-stitch1882 wheel-stitch1882 basket-stitch1883 outline stitch1885 pointing1888 bullion stitchc1890 cable-stitchc1890 oriental stitchc1890 Turkish stitchc1890 Romanian stitch1894 shell-stitch1895 saddle stitch1899 magic stitch1900 plumage-stitch1900 saddle stitching1902 German knot stitch1903 trellis1912 padding stitch1913 straight stitch1918 Hungarian stitch1921 trellis stitch1921 lazy daisy1923 diamond stitchc1926 darning1930 faggot filling stitch1934 fly stitch1934 magic chain stitch1934 glove stitch1964 pad stitch1964 1876 Bazaar, Exchange & Mart 24 June 428/1 Fig. 1 is the Witch Stitch, and is in reality only ordinary herringboning, working in the same way, from left to right. 1994 Observer 20 Mar. (Life section) 38/4 You realise that nowhere in Europe has more history been packed into a more congenial setting. And that's before you get to the witch-stitch lace and the praline chocolates, the multi-rosetted restaurants and the plethora of local beers. witch-stone n. now historical a flat stone with a natural perforation, used as a charm against witchcraft.Cf. earlier adder-stone n. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [noun] > charm or amulet > against witchcraft antidemoniac1603 praefiscinal1652 horseshoe1665 witch-stone1782 witch ball1913 1782 R. Greene Particular & Descriptive Catal. Lichfield Mus. 36 A Bunch of Witch Stones, from the River Wribble, in Lancashire. 1870 ‘Ouida’ Puck I. vi. 91 The old soul have a bit of belief like in witch-stones, and allus sets one aside her spinnen' jenny. 2001 M. Campbell Strange World of Brontës iv. 194 Adder-stones or witch-stones, as they were sometimes known, have natural holes in them and were frequently tied with string, before being suspended from the rafters, to ward off witches. † witch top n. Obsolete a witch attachment for a loom; = sense 9; frequently as a modifier. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > method of > figure weaving > loom > parts of or attachments for tablea1400 simple1731 draw-boy1811 card1829 needle1829 witch1829 machine card1832 Jacquard apparatus1841 Jacquard1851 griff1860 dobby1878 lappet1894 witch top1897 trap-board1900 necking cord1910 1897 Philadelphia Inquirer 19 Aug. 8/3 (advt.) Weavers on witch-top looms. Star Mills, Howard and Jefferson. 1908 Fibre & Fabric 14 Mar. 20/2 A. D. Irwin & Bro., manufacturers of men's wear, who recently installed a few witch tops for their looms, will, it is stated install an additional number in a few days. 1920 Amer. Wool & Cotton Reporter 1 Apr. 1236/2 (advt.) Ingram Witch Top Looms, 4 x 1 Boxes. witch trial n. chiefly historical a trial of a defendant charged with practising witchcraft.Chiefly with reference to the period of heightened fear of witches in Europe and European colonies in the early modern period; cf. sense 1b(b).rare before the 19th cent. ΚΠ 1694 in I. Mauduit Tri-unity (end matter) A further account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches... This Book is Printed on the same size with the first Accounts of the Witch-Tryals, that they might Bind up together. 1830 R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. (1833) III. ii. 603 (note) This symbolical mode of taking the..produce of land, &c., is frequently alluded to in Witch-Trials. 1971 K. Thomas Relig. & Decline of Magic (1997) xvi. 514 Image-magic made a periodic appearance in the witch-trials. 2021 Independent (Nexis) 23 June During the Salem witch trials, a woman who was left-handed was much more likely to be accused of being a witch. † witch-water n. Obsolete rare water used in magical rites.In quot. 1659 as a derogatory term for holy water. ΘΚΠ society > faith > artefacts > consumables > water > [noun] holy waterc900 witch-water1622 1622 in R. Baddeley Boy of Bilson 63 Hee made holy-water, and witch-water, saying certaine prayers ouer them, and putting salt into the witch-water. 1659 R. Baxter Key for Catholicks i. xxix. 186 The Priest exorcised him..washing him with Holy water, Witch water. witchweed n. any of various parasitic plants; esp. any of various African and Asian species of the genus Striga (family Orobanchaceae), which have small bright flowers and infest legumes and grasses, including cereal crops such as maize, sorghum, and rice; (also) such plants collectively. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > poisonous or harmful plants > parasitic plants > [noun] > other beech-drops1815 rafflesia1822 Scotchman hugging the (also a) Creole1828 Brugmansia1832 John Crow nose1844 pinedrops1848 nettle-blight1849 Scotch attorney1864 Jim Crow's nose1866 witchweed1881 devil's guts1889 1881 Pall Mall Gaz. 19 Dec. 10/2 We have in England one or two other common parasitic plants, such as the little twining red dodder,..and the strange flesh-coloured tooth-wort, a famous witch-weed. 1904 Times 25 July 12/3 Complaints..were constantly being received..of damage done..to the mealie..crop by..rooi-bloom or witch weed. 1972 D. A. Roberts & C. W. Boothroyd Fund. Plant Pathol. iii. 35 The witchweeds (Striga spp.) attack the roots of their hosts. 2003 Guardian 18 Sept. (Life section) 6/5 The curse of poor farmers on poor land in Africa is witchweed, or striga. witch-wife n. now archaic a woman who practises witchcraft or magic; cf. sense 1a. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] walkyrieOE witchOE hagc1230 strya1300 wise woman1382 sorceressc1384 luller14.. tylyester14.. chantressc1425 magicienne1490 gyre-carline1535 witch-womana1538 eye-biter1584 beldama1586 witch-wife1591 cunning woman1594 saga?a1600 magha1609 magicianess1651 hag-witcha1658 haggard1658 besom-rider1664 wizardess1789 fly-by-night1796 lucky1827 bruja1829 weird-woman1845 hex1856 Baba Yaga1857 pishogue1906 witcher1928 1591 in R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. (1833) I. ii. 250 Catherene Campbell the Wich-wyffe, duelland in the Cannogait. 1696 A. Telfair True Relation Apparition 6 He had sent his Son to a Witch-wife, who lived then at the Routing-bridge. 1867 W. Morris Life & Death of Jason v. 94 As poisonous herbs..Are pounded by some witch-wife on the shore Of Pontus. 1981 B. Lumley Khai of Khem (2004) v. ii. 133 Aysha the witch-wife had first brought this fact to light with her predictions about Khai. witch-woman n. a woman who practises witchcraft or magic; cf. sense 1a. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] walkyrieOE witchOE hagc1230 strya1300 wise woman1382 sorceressc1384 luller14.. tylyester14.. chantressc1425 magicienne1490 gyre-carline1535 witch-womana1538 eye-biter1584 beldama1586 witch-wife1591 cunning woman1594 saga?a1600 magha1609 magicianess1651 hag-witcha1658 haggard1658 besom-rider1664 wizardess1789 fly-by-night1796 lucky1827 bruja1829 weird-woman1845 hex1856 Baba Yaga1857 pishogue1906 witcher1928 a1538 A. Abell Roit or Quheill of Tyme f. 76^v in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Operatioun of the ewill spreit & the wiche man or woman as instrument he tholis this operatioune in punitioun of synnaris. a1765 Northumbld. betrayd by Dowglas in J. W. Hales & F. J. Furnivall Bp. Percy's Folio MS (1867) II. i. 221 My mother, shee was a witch woman. 1897 Edinb. Rev. Oct. 394 Lapland witch-women. 1925 Cent. Mag. Jan. 398/1 When the tribes assembled on In-ga-lee-nay for the yearly Festival of the Whale, it took Miak, the witch-woman three days to sing all the runes. 2018 School Libr. Jrnl. (Nexis) Dec. Young Sibylla and her two sisters race through the forest to have their fortunes told by the witch woman. witchwork n. witchcraft. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [noun] wielingeOE wielOE craftOE witchcraftOE witchdomOE telingc1230 demerlaykc1275 dweomercraeftc1275 sorcerya1300 magicc1387 maleficec1390 jugglerya1400 precination1503 witchery1546 maleficiousness1547 prestigiation?c1550 wizardry1583 magie1592 dark art1613 prestigion1635 conjurement1645 magomancy1652 wizardism1682 thaumaturgy1727 warlockry1818 witchwork1827 brujería1838 wizardship1882 trolldom1891 mojo1923 pixie dust1951 witchering1956 old religion1964 1827 T. Carlyle tr. E. T. W. Hoffmann in German Romance II. 297 ‘Hey, hey! vermin!—Mad spell!—Witchwork [Ger. Hexenwerk]!—Hither, holla!’ So shouted he: then the black hair of the crone started up in tufts. 2000 T. Robbins Fierce Invalids 93 The Kandakandero had taken his affliction as a sign of divine favor and a portent of supernatural abilities, and immediately consecrated him to witchwork. C3. Compounds with the first element in genitive or genitive plural. See also witch's hat n. witches' bells n. (also witch's bells) any of several plants having tubular or bell-shaped flowers; spec. the harebell Campanula rotundifolia, and the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea; (also) a flower of such a plant.Cf. witch bell n. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > bellflowers bell-flower1578 bluebell1578 Canterbury bells1578 Coventry bells1578 Coventry Marians1578 Coventry rapes1578 fair-in-sight1578 gauntlet1578 haskwort1578 Marian's violet1578 throatwort1578 lady's looking glass1597 mariet1597 Mercury's violet1597 peach-bells1597 steeple bells1597 uvula-wort1597 Venus looking-glass1597 campanula1664 Spanish bell1664 corn-violet1665 rampion1688 Venus' glass1728 harebell1767 heath-bell1805 witch bell1808 slipperwort1813 meadow-bell1827 greygle1844 platycodon1844 lady's thimble1853 kikyo1884 witches' bells1884 balloon flower1901 fairy thimble1914 mountain bell1923 the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > foxglove and allied flowers > foxglove foxglovec1000 London button1552 wine-pot herb1552 finger1562 finger flower1562 lady's glove1575 foxter1623 fox-finger1657 fox1684 bloody finger1789 witch bell1808 fairy fingers1811 fairy thimble1813 dead men's bells1818 witches' thimbles1820 fairy bells1821 fairy glove1841 flap-dock1846 cow-flop1847 pop-glove1847 lady's thimble1853 Scotch mercury1853 poppy1856 fairy petticoats1864 finger root1870 fairy weed1871 pop-dock1878 witches' bells1884 1884 R. Folkard Plant Lore, Legends & Lyrics ii. 345 The witches are popularly supposed to have..decorated their fingers with its [sc. the foxglove's] largest bells, thence called ‘Witches' Bells’. 1904 G. G. Niles Bog-trotting for Orchids xiv. 167 I departed from New York for the Hoosac Valley, to obtain photographs of my orchids... Rosy-faces, golden-slippers, witches'-bells, and milky-white stars all arose from the earth. 2012 A. Templeton Evil for Evil ii. 35 She reached down to delicate blue flowers growing by her feet, cupping one tenderly in her fingers. ‘I love harebells. Witches bells—that was the old name.’ witches' besom n. an abnormal cluster of shoots on a plant, typically resulting from infection; = witches' broom n. [Originally after German Hexenbesen (see witches' broom n.).] ΘΚΠ the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > gall or abnormal growth gall1398 elationc1420 dog rose1526 tumour?1541 to-growing1562 gall-nut1572 gall-apple1617 apple1668 by-fruit1682 witches' besom1849 witches' broom1856 mad-apple1868 nail gall1879 marble gall1882 gall-knob1892 scroll-gall1895 twig-gall1900 cecidium1902 1849 Gardeners' Chron. & Agric. Gaz. 2 June 340/3 An allied species is very common in Germany, giving a peculiar aspect to the trees which are attacked, and which are in consequence known under the name of Hexenbesen (Witches' besoms). 1856 Gardeners' Chron. 28 June 436/2 In summer the Witches' Besoms are known at a distance by their red brown tint and bushy habit. 1909 E. W. Swanton Fungi i. iv. 33 Ascomyces turgidus gives rise to the ‘witches' besoms’ so commonly seen on birch, and particularly noticeable in winter. 2012 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 19 Dec. 12 When I was a lad I used to think ‘witches' broom’ or ‘witches' besoms’ were birds' nests high in tree branches, or possibly squirrel dreys. witch's bridle n. (also witches' bridle) historical an instrument of punishment or torture consisting of an iron framework for the head and a sharp metal gag for restraining the tongue; cf. scold's bridle n., branks n.¹ 1. ΘΚΠ society > authority > punishment > torture > instrument or place of torture > [noun] > bit barnacle1568 witch's bridle1817 gadge1846 1817 D. Webster Topogr. Dict. Scotl. 267/2 An engine of torture called ‘A witch's bridle,’ which is an iron hoop going round the head, and fixed behind with a forelock. 2018 R. Traister Good & Mad ii. i. 51 The brank—also known as a scold's bridle, or a witch's bridle—was a sixteenth-century torture device used to muzzle a defiant or cranky woman, her head and jaw clamped into a metal cage. witches' butter n. (also witch's butter) †(a) a frothy secretion exuded on plants by larvae of certain insects; cuckoo spit (obsolete rare); (b) any of various organisms occurring in gelatinous masses, esp. a jelly fungus and the cyanobacterium nostoc, Nostoc commune; cf. fairy butter n. 1.Probably so called (in both senses) from a belief that such material was left or used by witches. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > [noun] > tremella fungi fairy butter1700 witches' butter1718 Tremella1760 witch butter1847 witches' meat1849 the world > plants > particular plants > algae > [noun] > nostoc star slime1440 slime1471 nostoc?1609 star shot1653 star1666 star jelly1702 shot star1811 witches' meat1849 will-o'-the-wisp1863 witches' butter1922 1718 F. Hutchinson Hist. Ess. conc. Witchcraft vi. 99 Such Froth in Meadows and Gardens is not from Witches and Spirits spewing, but from Grasshoppers, and other little Insects..; and when I see Swedish Judges..learn from the Rabble to call it Witches Butter, and hang and burn their Neighbours from such Evidence; I cannot but stand amazed. 1836 M. J. Berkeley in J. E. Smith Eng. Flora V. ii. 218 E[xidia] glandulosa. (Witches' Butter.) 1861 H. Macmillan Footnotes from Nature 288 The wrinkled, quaking, gelatinous mass of the witches' butter. 1922 C. L. Abbott What comes from What 7 Star jelly or witches' butter, found on damp ground, consists of colonies of Nostoc. 2007 National Trust Mag. Autumn 75/1 With names like devil's fingers, the sickener, slippery Jack, witches' butter and destroying angel, it's no surprise that some mushroom myths have persisted into modern times. 2020 M. Blocksma Heartland Habitats 78 I'm always startled when a mass of witch's butter, so intensely, deeply yellow, appears on its dark host. † witch's cradle n. Irish English (northern) Obsolete rare a fossil oyster of the extinct Mesozoic genus Gryphaea (family Gryphaeidae); cf. gryphite n.Also called devil's toenail. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > organism > fossil > [noun] > types of astroite1610 belemnite1646 mussel-stone1660 scallop-stone1668 trochite1676 conchite1677 ophiomorphite1677 pectinite1677 worm-stone1677 musculite1681 serpent-stone1681 sugar-plum1681 glossopetraa1684 ague shell1708 forket1708 mytilite1727 grit1748 phytolithus1761 fairy beads1767 fairy fingers1780 fairy arrow1794 gryphite1794 ram's horn1797 hysterolite1799 tubulite1799 thunder-pick1801 celleporite1808 ceraunite1814 seraph1822 serpulite1828 coprolite1829 subfossil1831 pencil1843 trigonellite1845 buccinite1852 rudist1855 guide fossil1867 witch's cradle1867 coccolith1868 fairy cheeses1869 discolith1871 Portland screw1871 spiniferite1872 cyatholith1875 cryptozoon1883 sabellite1889 palaeospecies1895 homoeomorph1898 rudistid1900 megafossil1932 scolecodont1933 macrofossil1937 hystrichosphere1955 palynomorph1961 acritarch1963 molecular fossil1965 mitrate1967 1867 4th Ann. Rep. Belfast Naturalists' Field Club 8 The Gryphea incurva, commonly called in the locality ‘witches' cradles’. 1880 W. H. Patterson Gloss. Words Antrim & Down Witch's cradle, a Lias fossil, Gryphea incurva. † witches' elm n. (also witch's elm) Obsolete the wych elm, Ulmus glabra. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > elms > [noun] wycheOE elmc1000 ulm-treec1000 witch hazela1400 all-heart1567 ulme1567 white elm1580 wych elm1582 witchen1594 weeping elm1606 trench-elm1676 smooth-leaved elm1731 witch elm1731 water elm1733 slippery elm1748 Scotch elm1769 wahoo1770 American elm1771 red elm1805 witches' elm1808 moose elm1810 cork-elm1813 rock elm1817 swamp elm1817 planer tree1819 Jersey elm1838 winged elm1858 sand elm1878 Exeter-elm1882 1808 J. Cottle Fall of Cambria II. xv. 18 The passing Breeze so faintly stirr'd himself, That nought but the Witches Elm-leaf, flapping round In very sport and wantonness of joy, Told of his unfelt presence. 1821 W. Scott Kenilworth I. ix. 238 I have sown a sprig of witch's elm in the neck of un's doublet. witch's horse n. †(a) a wolf (obsolete rare); (b) any of various insects, esp. a stick insect; cf. devil's horse n. (b) at devil n. Compounds 3d.Quot. 1865 is apparently an isolated literary archaism in imitation of Norse and Old English kennings. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf) wolfc725 greyOE Isegrima1300 grey wolf1595 lupus?a1600 witch's horse1865 the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Phasmida > family Phasmidae walking stick1760 leaf insect1795 spectre1798 stick insect1826 spectrum1838 phasmid1864 stick bug1868 twig insect1882 witch's horse1894 1865 C. Kingsley Hereward xx, in Good Words June 414/1 The silence was broken by a long wild cry from the forest... It was the howl of a wolf. ‘Hark to the witch's-horse!’ 1894 Harper's Mag. Feb. 456 [The walking stick insect] which the country people near Salem, Massachusetts..call ‘witches' horses’. 1994 Bulletin (Yorks. Naturalists' Union) 21 17 In Italy and among the Dakota Indians, the insects are known as a witch's animal, hence Witch's Horse, and as witches are the devil's creatures, then it follows that the dragonfly is the devil's animal. 2005 News–Press (Fort Myers, Florida) (Nexis) 15 May (Tropicalia Mag.) 6 r Anisomorpha buprestoides... Variously known as the devil's riding horse, prairie alligator, stick bug, witch's horse, devil's darning needle, scorpion, and musk mare, the twostriped walking stick is one of about 2,000 species in the world. witches' knickers n. colloquial (chiefly Irish English) discarded plastic bags or shreds of plastic bags that have become snagged in trees, hedges, etc. ΚΠ 2000 Irish Times 23 Dec. (Weekend section) 7/6 Plastic carrier bags..end up in landfill or blowing about in trees and hedges (now known colloquially as ‘witches knickers’). 2014 D. Fletcher Crystal Balls & Moroccan Walls iii. 28 Litter was evident for miles around, and ‘witches' knickers’ were evident even further afield. witch's mark n. now chiefly historical a mark or protuberance on the skin, taken to indicate that a person is a witch; = witch-mark n. at Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > ill health > blemish > [noun] > spot or mark > witch-mark witch's mark1624 witch-mark1644 1624 J. Cotta Triall Witch-craft (ed. 2) x. 89 Those supposed Witches markes, before they can iustly and truely bee iudged to bee by the Diuell effected or vsed, must by some stampe or signe proper to himselfe, or to his workes, or to his vse or propertie therein, be so determined and conuinced to be. 1845 Evergreen Nov. 349/1 He began the work of searching for the ‘witch's mark’, by thrusting pins into various parts of the innocent man's body. 2002 G. Duncan I, Lucifer (2003) 149 The Pricker is called in to search for the witch's mark. Third nipple, scar, mole, pimple, freckle, wen, wart, birthmark, scratch, scab—pretty much anything in the blemish family qualifies. † witches' meat n. Obsolete any of various organisms occurring in gelatinous masses; = witches' butter n. (b).Quot. 1835 shows an earlier use of witch-meat in the same sense, with witch as a modifier rather than in the genitive plural. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > [noun] > tremella fungi fairy butter1700 witches' butter1718 Tremella1760 witch butter1847 witches' meat1849 the world > plants > particular plants > algae > [noun] > nostoc star slime1440 slime1471 nostoc?1609 star shot1653 star1666 star jelly1702 shot star1811 witches' meat1849 will-o'-the-wisp1863 witches' butter1922 1835 G. T. Burnett Outl. Bot. I. 231 By our foresters they are variously named, according to their forms and consistences, ‘Witch-guts’, ‘Witch-meat’, and ‘Witches'-butter.’] 1849 Visitor, or, Monthly Instructor Dec. 473/2 They are of a yellowish, whited, or brown colour, and woodmen call them witches' meat. 1867 Chambers's Encycl. IX. 531/2 Tremella..Several species are found in Britain. In some places, they receive such popular names as Witches' Meat and Witches' Butter. witches' meeting n. a supposed meeting of witches, and sometimes demons or other supernatural or magical beings, often conceived of as taking place at midnight; = sabbath n. 3Cf. witch meeting n., witch sabbath n., witches' Sabbath n.Quot. 1627 shows the collocation Lancashire witches modifying meeting rather than this compound. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > meeting of witches' Sabbath1613 Sabbat1652 sabbath1660 coven1662 witches' meeting1693 witch meeting1693 witch sabbath1826 1627 R. Bernard Guide Grand-iury Men ii. xviii. 221 The relations of the Lancashire Witches meeting at Malkin Tower, some 20. together.] 1693 tr. A. Bourignon in Coll. Mod. Relations Witches 29 This Love of hers had..carried her at Nights to the Witches Meetings in great Castles. 1718 F. Hutchinson Hist. Ess. conc. Witchcraft ii. 39 They were carried to Witches Meetings Two or Three Times a Week, where they met vast Multitudes of other Witches. 1873 To-day (Philadelphia) Oct. 209/2 The Hexentenplaz is where Goethe locates the scenes of the witches' meeting in the drama of Faust. 2013 Cambr. Q. 42 211 Three local women were accused by the scullery maid Ann Armstrong of frequenting witches' meetings in Riding Mill. witches' night n. a night during which witches are supposed to be especially active, spec. (the night of) Midsummer Eve, 23 June, or Halloween, 31 October. ΘΚΠ the world > time > period > year > season > [noun] > summer > midsummer > midsummer day or eve Midsummer DaylOE midsummer1530 witches' nighta1697 a1697 J. Aubrey Remaines Gentilisme & Judaisme (1881) 133 'Tis Midsommer-night or Midsommer-eve (St. Jo. Baptist) is counted or called the Witches night. 1876 H. W. Dulcken tr. B. Auerbach Good Hour 22 In the village they marvelled at first to find the two witches gone; but soon it was settled that the devil had carried them off in the ‘witches' night’. 1911 Bright Ideas for Money-making 186 The custom of playing tricks on this night [sc. Hallowe'en] came from the old superstition that this is ‘witches' night’ and that all the strange and wild powers of the air are abroad to do mischief. 2015 Western Morning News (Nexis) 30 May 14 The 23rd [of June] is Midsummer or Johnmas Eve, the Witches Night and 24th is Midsummer Day, Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist. witches' prayer n. (also witch's prayer) now historical an incantation in verse, supposed to function as a blessing when recited forwards, and as a curse when recited backwards. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [noun] > spell > kinds of night-spellc1390 white paternosterc1390 back-pater-noster1561 counter-charm1601 witches' prayer1663 counter-spell1725 karakia1832 rune1841 black paternoster1851 conjure1873 1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. iii. 189 He that gets her by heart must say her The back-way, like a Witche's prayer. 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 61. ¶5 To which I must..add a little Epigram called the Witches Prayer, that fell into Verse when it was read either backward or forward, excepting only, that it Cursed one way and Blessed the other. 1864 G. A. Lawrence Maurice Dering II. 218 My good wishes of late have been fearfully like witches' prayers. 2004 L. Roper Witch Craze viii. 192 Under questioning, Juditha repeated the bizarre so-called witches' prayer she had learned. witches' Sabbath n. (also witch's sabbat) a supposed meeting of witches, and sometimes demons or other supernatural or magical beings, often conceived of as taking place at midnight; = sabbath n. 3.Cf. witch sabbath n., witch meeting n., witches' meeting n. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > witch > [noun] > meeting of witches' Sabbath1613 Sabbat1652 sabbath1660 coven1662 witches' meeting1693 witch meeting1693 witch sabbath1826 1613 W. B. tr. S. Michaelis Admirable Hist. Penitent Woman 119 He also said to Magdalene, Art not thou an accursed woman, that the Witches Sabbath [Fr. le Sabath] is kept here? 1853 C. Dickens Bleak House viii. 67 Such..as was never dreamed of in the wildest visions of a Witch's Sabbath. 1975 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 2 Mar. 12/8 The witches' sabbat..has its academic advocates to this very day... In..1972 a professor at the University of California maintained that sects of witches did exist, and..they did worship the devil. 2002 N. Drury Dict. Esoteric 132/1 It has been suggested that the magical flight of witches to the witches' sabbath resulted from hallucinatory ointments rubbed into the skin. witches' thimbles n. (also witches' thimble, witch's thimble) any of several plants having tubular or bell-shaped flowers, esp. the common foxglove, Digitalis purpurea; (also) a flower of such a plant. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > names applied to various flowers heliotropec1000 flower jaunette1423 helichrysum1551 sunflower1562 Armeria1578 hyacinth1578 pimpernel1578 vaccin1589 heliochryse1593 purple1604 sunflower1622 mayflower1626 starflower1629 bluebottle1648 pink1731 trumpet-flower1732 fly-wort1753 witches' thimbles1820 honey plant1824 black-eyed Susan1836 shell-flower1845 pincushion1847 pincushion flower1856 nightingale1862 garland-flower1866 paper-white1880 the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > foxglove and allied flowers > foxglove foxglovec1000 London button1552 wine-pot herb1552 finger1562 finger flower1562 lady's glove1575 foxter1623 fox-finger1657 fox1684 bloody finger1789 witch bell1808 fairy fingers1811 fairy thimble1813 dead men's bells1818 witches' thimbles1820 fairy bells1821 fairy glove1841 flap-dock1846 cow-flop1847 pop-glove1847 lady's thimble1853 Scotch mercury1853 poppy1856 fairy petticoats1864 finger root1870 fairy weed1871 pop-dock1878 witches' bells1884 1820 Edinb. Mag. & Literary Misc. Apr. 344/1 The mother..pulled some witches thimbles, or foxglove. 1866 J. T. B. Syme Sowerby's Eng. Bot. (ed. 3) VI. 13 Campanula rotundifolia... Hare-bell... A common rustic name for them is ‘witches' thimbles’. 1878 Handbk. Eng. & Wales 22/2 The plant called ‘Witches' Thimbles’ (Silene maritima) appears to be the sole living thing which flourishes [on the island]. 1914 H. H. Thomas Rock Gardening for Amateurs xx. 125 C. pusilla.—This well-known and showy little plant from South Europe, of tufted growth, glossy green leaves, and dainty drooping bells of blue, pale blue or white in July, is often called ‘Witches' Thimbles’ or ‘Fairy Thimbles’, and is frequently used as an edging. 2010 Times 26 July 24/1 These delicate lilac bells that tremble on their thin stalks have often had magic associated with them, and have been called fairy bells and witches' thimbles. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022). witchv.¹ Brit. /wɪtʃ/, U.S. /wɪtʃ/ Forms: Old English wiccian, Middle English wicce, Middle English wicche, Middle English wiche, Middle English wycche, Middle English wyche, Middle English wysshe, Middle English–1600s wytche, late Middle English– witch, 1500s–1600s witche, 1800s wutch (Manx English), 1900s 'witch; also Scottish pre-1700 vich, pre-1700 vitch, pre-1700 wech, pre-1700 weich, pre-1700 wisch. Origin: Apparently partly formed within English, by conversion. Probably partly formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymons: witch n., bewitch v. Etymology: Originally (i) apparently immediately < witch n., although ultimately cognate with West Frisian wikje , wikke to tell the future, Middle Dutch wicken to use magic, to tell the future (Dutch regional wikken to tell the future), Middle Low German wicken to tell the future, Middle High German wicken to use magic, to tell the future, further etymology uncertain (see note). In later uses (in senses 2 and 3) (ii) probably also partly shortened < bewitch v. Compare witching n.¹It has been suggested that the continental Germanic verbs reflect a derivative of the Germanic base of wiele v., perhaps ultimately < the same Germanic base as Old High German wīh sacred, holy (see weved n.). However, although semantically plausible, this poses phonological problems. Beside possible issues with regard to the length of the stem vowel discussed at wiele v., the gemination of the stem-final consonant could not be due to regular West Germanic consonant gemination, if the word derives from the base of wiele v. It could be a case of expressive gemination (with iterative or intensive function) and devoicing of the velar consonant. Compare also the discussion of palatalization and assibilation of the stem-final geminate at witch n. Attestation in Old English. In Old English a weak verb of Class II. The finite verb is rare in Old English, but compare also the derivative wiccung witching n.¹ (also in wiccungdōm in sense ‘witchcraft’ in an isolated attestation in verse; compare -dom suffix). †1. intransitive. To practise witchcraft; to cast spells; to use magic or enchantment. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [verb (intransitive)] witchOE charmc1300 hex1830 OE Poenitentiale Pseudo-Egberti (Laud) iv. xiv. 53 Gif hwa wiccige ymbe æniges mannes lufe & him on æte sylle..oððe on æniges cynnes galdorcræfte. ?a1300 Dame Sirith l. 353 in G. H. McKnight Middle Eng. Humorous Tales (1913) 16 Þenne bigon þe clerc to wiche, And shop mi douter til a biche. a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 2539 Were þei boþe here, þei schuld wicche wel ȝif þei a-wei went. 1623 T. Scott Projector 30 Hath not Iesabell painted, and whored, and plotted, and witched, and waded through blood? 2. a. transitive. To enchant, possess, or otherwise affect (someone or something) (usually malevolently) with witchcraft or magic; to cast a spell on; = bewitch v. 1. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [verb (transitive)] bigaleOE biwihelea1225 bewitchc1225 witchc1300 sigalder1303 bichantc1330 becharm1340 enchant1377 charmc1380 forspeakc1440 ensorte1477 encharm1480 conjurea1535 ensorcell1589 fascinate1603 spell1646 maleficiate1651 to cast the glamour over one?17.. maleficate1701 spell-bind1808 makutu1825 trick1829 glamour1832 bespell1894 wizard1898 to put the fluence on1909 effascinate- c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) (1978) l. 12114 Somme bokes seggeþ to iwisse þat þe borh was i-wicched [c1275 Calig. biwucched]. a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 4427 Þat neuer man vpon mold miȝt it [sc. the ring] him on haue, ne schuld he with wicchecraft be wicched neuer-more. a1425 (?a1350) Gospel of Nicodemus (Harl.) (1907) l. 216 (MED) He fars with fendes fare; wyched þi wyf has he. c1480 (a1400) St. Andrew 64 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 65 Þane þat ȝong manis kyne in hy sad, he was wechyt, sekyrly! 1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. ccxx. [ccxvi.] 282 b/1 They..sayd, that the duchesse Ualentyne of Orlyaunce, doughter to the duke of Myllayn, hadde witched the kynge. 1596 in J. Stuart Misc. Spalding Club (1841) I. 87 His wyiff was witchit be his narrest nychtbour. 1647 J. March Actions for Slaunder 15 Thou art a Witch..and diddest procure Mother Bale to witch the Cattell of I. S. 1883 Folk-Lore Jrnl. 1 354 A servant..told me when her mother was confined a man in the village ‘witched her’, so that she could not move in bed. 1991 Storylines: Anthol. Told Stories 13 This witch witched my mother because she married my father when this other woman wanted to marry him. 2011 J. Endredy Flying Witches of Veracruz 47 Don Vicente had just performed one of the most complex and disturbing rituals I had ever seen, and it had been conducted for the sole purpose of witching me. b. transitive. To use witchcraft to change (someone or something) into a new form or state. Also with adverbs or prepositions: to use witchcraft to move, send, etc., (someone or something) in a specified direction or manner. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > enchantment or casting spells > [verb (transitive)] > change or move by enchantment charm away1549 witch1608 ycharmc1620 spell1876 1608 G. Chapman Trag. Duke of Byron iv, in Conspiracie Duke of Byron sig. O2 O that in mine eyes Were all the Sorcerous poyson of my woes, That I might witch ye headlong from your height. 1693 I. Mather Cases Conscience 26 See if you can Witch them into a Fit,..and..Witch them well again. 1871 E. B. Tylor Primitive Culture I. iv. 103 Hindus settled in Chota-Nagpur..believe that the Mundas..can witch away the lives of man and beast. 1892 G. F. Northall Eng. Folk-rhymes 59 People say that the remarkable stones at Rollwright..are a regiment of soldiers witched into stones. 2005 F. Hardinge Fly by Night (2006) 204 Witchcraft my socks! If he was a witch he'd have witched us out of Chough in three winks! †3. transitive. figurative. To captivate or influence (someone or something), as if by magic or witchcraft; to fascinate, charm, enchant, etc.; = bewitch v. 2. Also occasionally intransitive. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > motivation > attraction, allurement, or enticement > attract, allure, or entice [verb (intransitive)] > fascinate or enchant witch1499 sirenize1592 charm1709 fascinate1742 the mind > will > motivation > attraction, allurement, or enticement > attract, allure, or entice [verb (transitive)] > fascinate or enchant enchantc1374 charmc1380 catchc1405 witch1499 bewitch1526 captive1528 allure?1532 captivate1535 disarm1553 enthral1562 sirenize1592 enamour1600 infascinate1687 fascinate1742 capture1796 besiren1861 1499 Contempl. Synners (de Worde) sig. Dij^v O vale of teeres..How wytches [a1525 Asloan wythis, c1550 Arun. wes, c1550 Harl. wichis] thou the wytte of thy vageours Sylynge theyr syght. a1500 (?a1425) Antichrist (Peniarth) in R. M. Lumiansky & D. Mills Chester Myst. Cycle (1974) I. App. 503 Thowe hasse deceyvyd men..and wychyd theym into a wrang wey wykkydly with thy wylys. 1576 G. Whetstone Ortchard of Repentance 22 in Rocke of Regard A flatterers tongue, to feede beleeuing cares, A harlots face, to witche with wanton sight. 1592 Greenes Groats-worth of Witte sig. C^v [Loue] Witching chast eares with trothles tungs of men. 1619 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher King & No King iii. sig. F2^v With her eyes Shee witches people. 1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda I. i. iv. 63 Her witching the world with her grace on horseback. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022). witchv.² Brit. /wɪtʃ/, U.S. /wɪtʃ/ Origin: Either (i) formed within English, by conversion. Or perhaps (ii) a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: witch v.¹ Etymology: Either (i) < witch n. (compare sense 4 at that entry), or perhaps (ii) a specific sense development of witch v.¹ (although this is uncommon in the 19th cent.), in either case after water witch n. 3 (reflecting a perception of dowsing as a supernatural activity), further reinforced by association with witch hazel n. 2, the pliant twigs of this tree being traditionally used for dowsing rods in North America. Compare later water-witch v. North American (chiefly U.S.). 1. intransitive. To dowse for underground sources of water (or sometimes minerals, oil, etc.) using a divining rod or similar technique. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > make a search [verb (intransitive)] > search for subterraneous water witch1848 to work the twig1883 dowse1894 1848 C. W. Reutgus Let. 24 July in Ohio Cultivator 15 Aug. 124/3 I know that some people laugh at the idea of witching for water. 1903 H. Garland Hesper ix. 136 Once they passed a couple of men ‘witching’ for their vein [of ore]. 1963 G. H. Thomson Crocus Country xi. 74 The term to ‘witch for water’ is said to come from the fact that it was usually done with a witch-hazel wand. 2013 P. L. Fiedler et al. Environmental Legacy UC Nat. Reserve Syst. 167 Water seekers still used forked sticks to ‘witch’ for wells. 2. transitive. To identify a suitable site for (a well) by dowsing an area of land for water. Also: to search (an area of land) for underground sources of water (sometimes also oil, minerals, etc.) using a divining rod or similar technique; to discover (subterranean water, a well, etc.) by this method. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > search for or seek [verb (transitive)] > search for subterraneous water water-witch1913 witch1937 1937 J. Stout Folklore from Iowa 169 So they got a man to witch a well for them. He indicated where the well should be. 1947 V. Randolph Ozark Superstitions 86 My mother-in-law witched all the country around Bolivar, and always found water. 1977 W. D. Wyman Witching for Water, Oil, Pipes, & Precious Minerals v. 67 When a well went dry he took a peach stick and witched the field. 2006 Yukon News (Nexis) 12 May (Life section) 71 [He] charges $100 to witch a property. If he doesn't find water, it's only $50. Compounds As a modifier, designating items used to dowse for underground sources of water, minerals, oil, etc., as in witch rod, witch stick, witch wand, etc. Cf. witching n.³ Compounds. ΚΠ 1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale Witch-wand, a twig of the mountain ash, once used to find minerals. 1894 H. S. Nourse Hist. Town Harvard 104 The people..dug their wells under the direction of some gifted individual in whose hand the witch-rod would ‘work’. 1947 V. Randolph Ozark Superstitions 89 He even claimed that he could tell, by the behavior of his witch stick, whether the alleged deposit was a vein of the mineral, or a mere pocket. 2009 V. Van Der Veer Hamilton Teddy's Child 110 If the witch wand bends towards the ground, chances are there's water beneath. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2021; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.OEv.¹OEv.²1848
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witchn.

Phrases

Compounds

witchv.1

witchv.2

Compounds

witchv.¹

witchv.²