WITCH • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Witch

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/wɪtʃ/ Listen

noun

Witch n. A cone of paper which is placed in a vessel of lard or other fat, and used as a taper. (Prov. Eng.)

Witch n.

1.

One who practices the black art, or magic; one regarded as possessing supernatural or magical power by compact with an evil spirit, esp. with the Devil; a sorcerer or sorceress; now applied chiefly or only to women, but formerly used of men as well. "There was a man in that city whose name was Simon, a witch." "He can not abide the old woman of Brentford; he swears she's a witch."

2.

An ugly old woman; a hag.

3.

One who exercises more than common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person; also, one given to mischief; said especially of a woman or child. (Colloq.)

4.

(Geom.) A certain curve of the third order, described by Maria Agnesi under the name versiera.

5.

(Zool.) The stormy petrel.

6.

A Wiccan; an adherent or practitioner of Wicca, a religion which in different forms may be paganistic and nature-oriented, or ditheistic. The term witch applies to both male and female adherents in this sense.

Witch balls, a name applied to the interwoven rolling masses of the stems of herbs, which are driven by the winds over the steppes of Tartary. Cf. Tumbleweed.

Witches' besoms (Bot.), tufted and distorted branches of the silver fir, caused by the attack of some fungus.

Witches' butter (Bot.), a name of several gelatinous cryptogamous plants, as Nostoc commune, and Exidia glandulosa. See Nostoc.

Witch grass (Bot.), a kind of grass (Panicum capillare) with minute spikelets on long, slender pedicels forming a light, open panicle.

Witch meal (Bot.), vegetable sulphur. See under Vegetable.

verb

witch v. t. (past & past part. witched; pres. part. witching) To bewitch; to fascinate; to enchant. "(I 'll) witch sweet ladies with my words and looks." "Whether within us or without The spell of this illusion be That witches us to hear and see."

See images of 'Witch'

Etymology of 'Witch'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Witch" Quotes from Famous Books

... she was to share the royal couch: none of mankind was permitted to enter the house where she was reared, save only her foster-father, and her foster-mother; and in addition to these Levorcham, to whom naught could any refuse, for she was a witch. ...

— Heroic Romances of Ireland Volumes 1 and 2 Combined • A. H. Leahy

... through the grounds and round the estates. In front of the castle was a heap of stuff saved for the occasion. The torches were thrown on. When the fire was burning its liveliest, a hobgoblin appeared, drawing in a car the figure of a witch, surrounded by fairies carrying lances. The people formed a circle about the fire, and the witch was tossed in. Then there were dances to ...

— The Book of Hallowe'en • Ruth Edna Kelley

... at the expense of Baron Maseres. Madame Agnesi also wrote a commentary on the Traite analytique des sections coniques of the marquis de l'Hopital, which, though highly praised by those who saw it in manuscript, was never published. She invented and discussed the curve known as the "witch of Agnesi'' (q.v.) or versiera. In 1750, on the illness of her father, she was appointed by Pope Benedict XIV. to the chair of mathematics and natural Philosophy at Bologna. After the death of her father in 1752 she carried out a long-cherished purpose by giving herself to the study of theology, ...

— Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia

... was a very graceful invitation for Andrew Drever to give to a stranger who had only a few moments before implied that his mother was a witch. But it was a kindness such as he was ever showing; and I must add that Captain Gordon was one of those easy-mannered sailors who at once give an agreeable impression. I myself liked him from the very first, and I had afterwards many reasons for rejoicing ...

— The Pilots of Pomona • Robert Leighton

... who is the hero's benefactress, but whom he deserts through sorcery: the "Mastermaid" of the fairy-tales, the Medeia of Greek myth. Gudrun is always an innocent instrument in drawing Sigurd away from his real bride, the actual agent being her witch-mother Grimhild. This part of the story is summarised in Gripisspa, except that the writer seems unaware that the Wishmaiden who teaches Sigurd "every mystery that men would know" and the princess he betrays are ...

— The Edda, Vol. 2 - The Heroic Mythology of the North, Popular Studies in Mythology, - Romance, and Folklore, No. 13 • Winifred Faraday

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