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



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Word of the Day

24 September 2024

PROSODIC

(adjective) of or relating to the rhythmic aspect of language or to the suprasegmental phonemes of pitch and stress and juncture and nasalization and voicing


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