witch

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /wɪtʃ/ UK /wɪtʃ/ See IPA manual

Homophones

which /wɪt͡ʃ/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like wish /tʃ/ vs /ʃ/ Sounds like whish /tʃ/ vs /ʃ/

Meanings

1

noun
a person, typically a woman, believed to practise magic

Village rumour held the old woman to be a witch.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person, typically a... sorceressenchantresshag crone sorcerer magician

Word family

Derived forms witchcraft witchery witchingwitchy

Related forms wizard wicked

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

witch hazel
a shrub whose bark is used to make an astringent lotion

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

Witch comes from Old English, which distinguished masculine wicca from feminine wicce, pronounced with a final “ch.” Both men and women could therefore be described by the ancestral forms of the word.

Etymology

From Old English wicce (feminine) / wicca (masculine), 'sorceress, sorcerer', from the verb wiccian ('to practise witchcraft'), of uncertain ulterior origin.

wicce Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# witch

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /wɪtʃ/
**IPA (UK):** /wɪtʃ/

## Meanings
1. a person, typically a woman, believed to practise magic

## Examples
- Village rumour held the old woman to be a witch.

## Synonyms
- sorceress
- enchantress
- hag
- crone
- sorcerer
- magician

## Derived Forms
- witchcraft
- witchery
- witching
- witchy

## Related Forms
- wizard
- wicked

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: wicce

## Etymology
From Old English wicce (feminine) / wicca (masculine), 'sorceress, sorcerer', from the verb wiccian ('to practise witchcraft'), of uncertain ulterior origin.

## AI Etymology
Witch is a noun and verb meaning "a person, typically a woman, believed to practise magic". Historically, it is from Old English wicce (feminine) / wicca (masculine), 'sorceress, sorcerer', from the verb wiccian ('to practise witchcraft'), of uncertain ulterior origin. The older history should therefore be treated cautiously rather than as settled. The historical chain is anchored in Old English wicce. Close English family members include witchcraft, witchery, witching, witchy, and wizard.

## Topics
- People & Society

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