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witch

Pronunciation: /wɪt͡ʃ/

The English word “witch” has 16 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A person (now usually particularly a woman) who uses magical or similar supernatural powers to influence or predict events, particularly one with malicious motives.
  2. A person who follows Wicca or similar New Age pagan beliefs.
  3. An ugly or unpleasant woman.
  4. One who exercises more-than-common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person.
  5. One given to mischief, especially a woman or child.
  6. A certain curve of the third order, described by Maria Agnesi under the name versiera.
  7. A storm petrel.
  8. Glyptocephalus cynoglossus (witch flounder or Torbay sole), found in the North Atlantic.
  9. Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis (megrim), found in the North Atlantic.
  10. Caulopsetta scapha (syn. Arnoglossus scapha), found near New Zealand.
  11. Any member of the species Araotes lapithis of Indomalayan butterflies, of the family Lycaenidae.
  12. A cone of paper which is placed in a vessel of lard or other fat and used as a taper.
  13. A bitch.

verb

  1. To dowse for water.
  2. To practise witchcraft.
  3. To bewitch.

Etymology

From Middle English wicchen, from Old English wiċċian, from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk-. In the senses arising in Middle English and later probably aphetic from bewitch.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.