Etymology

witch

W4I1T1C3H4

Today it means: A person (now usually particularly a woman) who uses magical or supernatural powers to influence or predict events, particularly one with malicious motives. Full definition →

Middle English wicche ← Old English wiċċa ← Proto-West Germanic *wikkō
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witch · noun, verb1

  1. Old Englishwiċċe
  2. Proto-Germanic*wikkōną
  3. Proto-West Germanic*wikkōn
  4. Proto-West Germanic*wikkō
  5. Old Englishwiċċa
  6. Middle Englishwicche
  7. English todaywitch

The noun is from Middle English wicche, from Old English wiċċe (“(female) witch; sorceress”) and wiċċa (“(male) witch; sorcerer; warlock”), deverbative from wiċċian (“to practice sorcery”), from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną (compare West Frisian wikje, wikke (“to foretell; to warn”), German Low German wicken (“to soothsay”), Dutch wikken, wichelen (“to dowse; to divine”)), from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk- (“to consecrate; to separate”); akin to Latin victima (“sacrificial victim”), Lithuanian viẽkas (“life-force”), Sanskrit वि॒नक्ति॑ (vinákti, “to set apart; to separate out”). Possibly related to wicked; see that entry for more. The verb derives from the noun. The mathematical curve derives from a translation by John Colson of the Italian versiera, from a confusion with versoria (“rope”) and avversaria (“witch”).

witch · verb2

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*wik-néh₂-
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*wikkōną
  3. Old English · inherited fromwiċċian
  4. Middle English · inherited fromwicchen
  5. English todaywitch

From Middle English wicchen, from Old English wiċċian, from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk-. In the senses arising in Middle English and later probably aphetic from bewitch.

witch · noun3

Compare wick.

witch · noun4

Chosen for its euphemistic rhyme.

Words from the same roots

Italianversiera all →

witch of Agnesi

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.