witching

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈwɪtʃɪŋ/ UK /ˈwɪtʃɪŋ/ See IPA manual

adj noun

Meanings

1

adj
relating to or suggestive of witchcraft; bewitching

They crept home in the witching hour, when the moon hung low and pale.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · relating to or suggestive... bewitching enchanting magicalspellbindingsorcerous

Word family

Related forms witch witchcraft bewitch

Etymology

From witch (verb, 'to bewitch') + -ing, from Old English wiccian ('to practise witchcraft'), from wicce ('witch').

wiccian Old English wicce Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# witching

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** ˈwɪtʃɪŋ
**IPA (UK):** ˈwɪtʃɪŋ

## Meanings
1. relating to or suggestive of witchcraft; bewitching

## Examples
- They crept home in the witching hour, when the moon hung low and pale.

## Synonyms
- bewitching
- enchanting
- magical
- spellbinding
- sorcerous

## Related Forms
- witch
- witchcraft
- bewitch

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: wiccian
- Root: wicce

## Etymology
From witch (verb, 'to bewitch') + -ing, from Old English wiccian ('to practise witchcraft'), from wicce ('witch').

## AI Etymology
witching comes from witch (verb, 'to bewitch') + -ing, from Old English wiccian ('to practise witchcraft'), from wicce ('witch'). Morphologically, the word is transparent: -ing is attached to the older base named in the history, so the modern form packages an inherited or borrowed stem inside a later English derivative. In modern use, the adjective sense is "relating to or suggestive of witchcraft; bewitching", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as witch, witchcraft, bewitch, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Old English wiccian, Old English wicce, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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witching

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