Etymology

witching hour

witch·ing hour

Today it means: Often preceded by the: midnight, when witches and other supernatural beings were thought to be active, and to which bad luck was ascribed; also (generally), the middle of the night, when unfortunate things are thought to be more likely to occur; the dead of night. Full definition →

First used late 20th c.
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The story

From witching (“of or pertaining to witchcraft or sorcery, or to witches or sorcerers”, adjective) + hour. Sense 1 (“midnight”) was popularized by the reference to the “witching time of night” in the play Hamlet (written c. 1599–1602; published 1603) by William Shakespeare (1564–1616): see the quotation.

First known use, by meaning

  • from late 20th c. The hour between 3:00 and 3:59 a.m., associated with demons.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.