Meaning of witch in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Verb
    1. Definitions
  3. Noun
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /wɪtʃ/

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  1. Verb

    witch

    Definitions

    1. cast a spell over someone or something

    Examples

    • « put a hex on someone or something »

    Derived terms

  2. Noun

    witch

    Etymology

    Old English wicca (masculine), wicce (feminine), wiccian (verb); current senses of the verb are probably a shortening of bewitch

    Definitions

    1. a female sorcerer or magician

    Derived terms

  3. 2. a being (usually female) imagined to have special powers derived from the devil

    Derived terms

  4. 3. an ugly evil-looking old woman

Famous quotes

  • « Alaska is what happens when Willy Wonka and the witch from Hansel and Gretel elope, buy a place together upstate, renounce their sweet teeth, and turn into health fanatics. »
    Sloane Crosley
  • « I worked for MI6 in the Sixties, during the great witch-hunts, when the shared paranoia of the Cold War gripped the services. »
    John le Carre
  • « When I was a little kid, I wrote this play about all these characters living in a haunted house. There was a witch who lived there, and a mummy. When they were all hassling him, this guy who bought the house - I can't believe I remember this - he said to them, 'Who's paying the mortgage on this haunted house?' I thought that was really funny. »
    Mindy Kaling
  • « Poetry operates by hints and dark suggestions. It is full of secrets and hidden formulae, like a witch's brew. »
    Anthony Hecht
  • « God as now generally conceived of is only the last witch. »
    Samuel Butler

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