In 1511, leaders in Mecca believed coffee stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. In 1524, the leaders overturned that order, and people could drink coffee again.
WITCHING
charming, magic, magical, sorcerous, witching, wizard, wizardly
(adjective) possessing or using or characteristic of or appropriate to supernatural powers; “charming incantations”; “magic signs that protect against adverse influence”; “a magical spell”; “’tis now the very witching time of night”- Shakespeare; “wizard wands”; “wizardly powers”
witching
(noun) the use or practice of witchcraft
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Verb
witching
present participle of witch
Adjective
witching (comparative more witching, superlative most witching)
(archaic) bewitching; enchanting
Etymology 2
Noun
witching (plural witchings)
An act of witchcraft.
Anagrams
• Gwitchin
Source: Wiktionary
Witch"ing, a.
Definition: That witches or enchants; suited to enchantment or witchcraft; bewitching. "The very witching time of night." Shak.
– Witch"ing*ly, adv.
WITCH
Witch, n. Etym: [Cf. Wick of a lamp.]
Definition: A cone of paper which is placed in a vessel of lard or other fat, and used as a taper. [Prov. Eng.]
Witch, n. Etym: [OE. wicche, AS. wicce, fem., wicca, masc.; perhaps the same word as AS. witiga, witga, a soothsayer (cf. Wiseacre); cf. Fries. wikke, a witch, LG. wikken to predict, Icel. vitki a wizard, vitka to bewitch.]
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. Wyclif (Acts viii. 9). He can not abide the old woman of Brentford; he swears she's a witch. Shak.
2. An ugly old woman; a hag. Shak.
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.)
Definition: A certain curve of the third order, described by Maria Agnesi under the name versiera.
5. (Zoöl.)
Definition: The stormy petrel. 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. Maunder (Treas. of Bot.) -- Witches' besoms (Bot.), tufted and distorted branches of the silver fir, caused by the attack of some fungus. Maunder (Treas. of Bot.) -- 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.
Witch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Witched; p. pr. & vb. n. Witching.] Etym: [AS. wiccian.]
Definition: To bewitch; to fascinate; to enchant. [I 'll] witch sweet ladies with my words and looks. Shak. Whether within us or without The spell of this illusion be That witches us to hear and see. Lowell.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
10 June 2025
COMMUNICATIONS
(noun) the discipline that studies the principles of transmiting information and the methods by which it is delivered (as print or radio or television etc.); “communications is his major field of study”
Coffee Trivia
