Meanings
alternative wit-craft
- uncountableMental skill; the art of wit.
In its pure form, witcraft can be seen as a democratic art. because it does not depend upon technical expertise. Within an ideal context of pure witcraft, the powerful and the powerless meet upon equal terms.
1996, Michael Billig, Arguing and thinking: a rhetorical approach to social psychology - uncountableThe art of reasoning; logic.
It argues that a rhetorical approach maintains space for agency on the behalf of employees (through the witcraft of argument) […]
2008, Gillian Symon, “Developing the Political Perspective on Technological Change Through Rhetorical Analysis”, in Management Communication Quarterly, volume 22, number 1
Origin
From wit + -craft. 1573 by Ralph Lever, The Arte of Reason, rightly termed, Witcraft, teaching a perfect way to argue and dispute.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
witcraft. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/witcraft
“witcraft.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/witcraft. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “witcraft,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/witcraft.
Source: witcraft on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.