The English word ''witch'', from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, is a term rooted in

European folklore European folklore or Western folklore refers to the folklore of the Western world, especially when discussed comparatively. The history of Christendom during the Early Modern period has resulted in a number of traditions that are shared in many E ...

and

superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...

for a practitioner of

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

, magic or sorcery. Traditionally associated with malevolent magic, with those accused of witchcraft being the target of

witch-hunt A witch hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. Practicing evil spells or Incantation, incantations was proscribed and punishable in early human civilizations in the ...

s, in the

modern era The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500 ...

the term has taken on different meanings. In literature, a 'witch' can now simply refer to an alluring woman capable of 'bewitching' others. In neopagan religions such as

Wicca Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...

the term has meanwhile been adopted as a label for adherents of all genders.

Etymology

The modern spelling ''witch'' with the medial 't' first appears in the 16th century. Old English had both masculine () and feminine () forms of the word, but the masculine meaning became less common in

Standard English In an English-speaking country, Standard English (SE) is the variety of English that has undergone codification to the point of being socially perceived as the standard language, associated with formal schooling, language assessment, and off ...

, being replaced by words like "

warlock A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft. Etymology and terminology The most commonly accepted etymology derives '' warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver". The term came to apply special ...

" and " wizard". The origins of the word are Germanic, rooted in the Old English verb , which has a cognate in

Middle Low German Middle Low German is a developmental stage of Low German. It developed from the Old Saxon language in the Middle Ages and has been documented in writing since about 1225–34 (). During the Hanseatic period (from about 1300 to about 1600), Mid ...

(attested from the 13th century, besides 'to bewitch'). The

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

's connects the "

Ingvaeonic North Sea Germanic, also known as Ingvaeonic ( ), is a subgrouping of West Germanic languages that consists of Old Frisian, Old English, and Old Saxon, and their descendants. These languages share a number of commonalities, such as a single pl ...

word" with Gothic 'sacred' ( Proto-Indo European (PIE) 'to separate, to divide', probably via early Germanic practices of

cleromancy Cleromancy is a form of sortition (casting of lots) in which an outcome is determined by means that normally would be considered random, such as the rolling of dice ( astragalomancy), but that are sometimes believed to reveal the will of a deit ...

such as those reported by

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

). R. Lühr connects 'prophetic, mantic', 'to practice divination' (Middle Low German 'bewitch', ' soothsayer') and suggests Proto-Germanic , geminated (cf. Kluge's law) to . The basic form would then be the feminine, < < with palatalization due to the preceding ''i'' and the following ''*æ'' < ''*ōn'' in early

. The palatal ''-cc-'' in would then be analogous to the feminine.

Related terms

Another Old English word for 'witch' was or , which became the modern English word " hag" and is linked to the word " hex". In most other Germanic languages, their word for 'witch' comes from the same root as these; for example German ''Hexe'' and Dutch ''heks''. Its

proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...

form is reconstructed as ''*hagatusjon'', whose origin is unclear. The adjective ' wicked' and noun 'wickedness' apparently derive from the Old English ('male witch').

History

Middle Ages

The earliest recorded use of the word "witch" is in the ''Laws of Ælfred'', which date to about 890: In the homilies of the Old English grammarian

Ælfric Ælfric (Old English ', Middle English ''Elfric'') is an Anglo-Saxon given name, consisting of the elements ''ælf'', "elf" and ''ric'', "a powerful person, ruler". Churchmen * Ælfric of Eynsham (c. 955–c. 1010), late 10th century Anglo-Sax ...

, dating to the late 10th century we find: The word also appears in Halitgar's earlier ''Latin Penitential'', but only once in the phrase ('as the witches teach'), which seems to be an addition to Halitgar's original, added by an 11th-century Old English translator. North quotes Penitential, II.22, as in In Old English glossaries the words and are used to gloss such Latin terms as , , , and , all of which mean 'diviner, soothsayer'.

Early modern period

Johannes Nider Johannes Nider ( – 13 August 1438) was a German theologian. Life Nider was born in Swabia. He entered the Order of Preachers at Colmar and after profession was sent to Vienna for his philosophical studies, which he finished at Cologne, where h ...

and other 15th century writers used the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

term to mean witch—a person who performed , harmful acts of sorcery, against others. The introduction of the idea of demonic forces empowering the acts of gave the term ''witch'' new connotations of

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

and

apostasy Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...

that were adopted by (1486), but these remained disputed despite papal injunctions to take action against witches. In the

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

region of Italy, there was agrarian visionary tradition known as the ''

benandanti The () were members of an agrarian visionary tradition in the Friuli district of Northeastern Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries. The claimed to travel out of their bodies while asleep to struggle against malevolent sorcerers (; ) in order ...

'' (literally 'well-farers'), who said that they battled witches, but who inquisitors nevertheless determined were witches themselves.

Modern

In current colloquial English ''witch'' is typically applied to women, with the male equivalent being

or wizard. Contemporary dictionaries currently distinguish four meanings of the noun ''witch'', including: a person (especially a woman) credited with malignant supernatural powers; a practitioner of neo-pagan tradition or religion (such as

); a mean or ugly old woman: hag crone; or, a charming or alluring girl or woman. Figurative use to refer to a bewitching young girl begins in the 18th century. Samuel Richardson, ''Pamela; or virtue rewarded'' (1739–40) has: "Mrs. Jervis, said he, take the little witch from me"

Etymology

Related terms

History

Middle Ages

Early modern period

Modern

See also

References

Further reading