What is "witch"

witch \witch\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. witched; p. pr. & vb. n. witching.] [AS. wiccian.] 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.

Wicca \Wic"ca\ (w[i^]k"k[.a]), prop. n. [OE. wicche wizard, AS. wicce, fem., wicca, masc.; see also witch and wicked.]

1. A religion derived from pre-Christian times, also called Witchcraft[4], which practices a benevolent reverence for nature, and recognizes two deities, variously viewed as Mother & Father, Goddess & God, Female & Male, etc.; its practitioners are called Wiccans, Wiccas, or witches. Since there is no central authority to propagate dogma, the beliefs and practices of Wiccans vary significantly.

   Encouraged by court rulings recognizing witchcraft as a legal religion, an increasing number of books related to the subject, and the continuing cultural concern for the environment, Wicca -- as contemporary witchcraft is often called -- has been growing in the United States and abroad. It is a major element in the expanding ``neo-pagan'' movement whose members regard nature itself as charged with divinity.
   --Gustav Niebuhr (N. Y. Times, Oct. 31, 1999, p. 1)

   ``I don't worship Satan, who I don't think exists, but I do pray to the Goddess of Creation.'' said Margot S. Adler, a New York correspondent for National Public Radio and a Wiccan practitioner. ``Wicca is not anti-Christian or pro-Christian, it's pre-Christian.''
   --Anthony Ramirez (N. Y. Times Aug. 22, 1999, p. wk 2)

   Note: Wicca is a ditheistic religion, also called Witchcraft, founded on the beliefs and doctrines of pre-Roman Celts, including the reverence for nature and the belief in a universal balance. Though frequently practiced in covens, solitary practitioners do exist. The modern form of the religion was popularized in 1954 by Gerald Gardener's Witchcraft Today. It is viewed as a form of neo-paganism. Wicca recognizes two deities, visualized as Mother & Father, Goddess & God, Female & Male, etc. These dieties are nameless, but many Wiccans adopt a name with which they refer to the two: Diana is a popular name for the Goddess to take, among others such as Artemis, Isis, Morrigan, etc. Some of her symbols are: the moon; the ocean; a cauldron; and the labrys (two-headed axe), among others. The God is of equal power to the Goddess, and takes on names such as Apollo, Odin, Lugh, etc. A small number of his symbols are: the sun; the sky; a horn (or two horns); and others. Witchcraft is not a Christian denomination; there is no devil in its mythos, thus the devil cannot be worshiped, and the medieval view of Witches as Satan-worshipers is erroneous. Satanists are not Witches and Witches are not Satanists. Both have a tendency to be offended when the two are confused. In the Wiccan religion male Witches are not ``Warlocks''. The term Warlock comes from Scottish, meaning 'oathbreaker', 'traitor', or 'devil'. Its application to male witches is of uncertain origin. The Wiccan Rede, ``An it harm none, do what thou wilt'' comes in many variations. All of them say the same thing, ``Do as you wish, just don't do anything to harm anyone.'' It is implied that 'anyone' includes one's self. Witches practice in groups called Covens or as solitary practitioners, and some practice ``magic'', which is to say, they pray. Since the one rule that Witches have requires that they can not do harm, harmful magic does not exist in Wicca. In Wicca, ``magic'' is simply subtly altering small things, to gain a desired effect. Wicca, sometimes called Neo-Witchcraft, was revived in the 1950s, when the last laws against Witchcraft were repealed. Gerald Gardner founded Gardnerian Wicca sometime after his book, Witchcraft Today, was published in 1954. Raymond Buckland, in America, did much the same that Gardner did in Europe -- stood up to the misconceptions about Witchcraft. Two other books describing the modern practice of Wicca are: Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, by Scott Cunningham, Llewellyn Publications, 1988. Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, by Raymond Buckland, Llewellyn Publications, 1975.

2. A practitioner of Wicca, also commonly called a Wiccan, Wicca, or witch .

   For at least one person who has seen ``The Blair Witch Project'', the surprise hit movie of the summer did not so much terrify as infuriate. One long slur against witches, said Selena Fox, a witch, or Wicca, as male and female American witches prefer to call themselves.
   --Anthony Ramirez (N. Y. Times, Aug. 22, 1999, p. wk 2)

Old English wicce "female magician, sorceress," in later use especially "a woman supposed to have dealings with the devil or evil spirits and to be able by their cooperation to perform supernatural acts," fem. of Old English wicca "sorcerer, wizard, man who practices witchcraft or magic," from verb wiccian "to practice witchcraft" (compare Low German wikken, wicken "to use witchcraft," wikker, wicker "soothsayer").\n

\nOED says of uncertain origin; Liberman says "None of the proposed etymologies of witch is free from phonetic or semantic difficulties." Klein suggests connection with Old English wigle "divination," and wig, wih "idol." Watkins says the nouns represent a Proto-Germanic *wikkjaz "necromancer" (one who wakes the dead), from PIE *weg-yo-, from *weg- (2) "to be strong, be lively" (see wake (v.)).\n

\nThat wicce once had a more specific sense than the later general one of "female magician, sorceress" perhaps is suggested by the presence of other words in Old English describing more specific kinds of magical craft. In the Laws of Ælfred (c.890), witchcraft was specifically singled out as a woman's craft, whose practitioners were not to be suffered to live among the West Saxons:\n\nÐa fæmnan þe gewuniað onfon gealdorcræftigan & scinlæcan & wiccan, ne læt þu ða libban."\n \nThe other two words combined with it here are gealdricge, a woman who practices "incantations," and scinlæce "female wizard, woman magician," from a root meaning "phantom, evil spirit." Another word that appears in the Anglo-Saxon laws is lyblæca "wizard, sorcerer," but with suggestions of skill in the use of drugs, because the root of the word is lybb "drug, poison, charm." Lybbestre was a fem. word meaning "sorceress," and lybcorn was the name of a certain medicinal seed (perhaps wild saffron). Weekley notes possible connection to Gothic weihs "holy" and German weihan "consecrate," and writes, "the priests of a suppressed religion naturally become magicians to its successors or opponents." In Anglo-Saxon glossaries, wicca renders Latin augur (c.1100), and wicce stands for "pythoness, divinatricem." In the "Three Kings of Cologne" (c.1400) wicca translates Magi:\n\nÞe paynyms ... cleped þe iij kyngis Magos, þat is to seye wicchis.\n\nThe glossary translates Latin necromantia ("demonum invocatio") with galdre, wiccecræft. The Anglo-Saxon poem called "Men's Crafts" has wiccræft, which appears to be the same word, and by its context means "skill with horses." In a c.1250 translation of "Exodus," witches is used of the Egyptian midwives who save the newborn sons of the Hebrews: "Ðe wicches hidden hem for-ðan, Biforen pharaun nolden he ben." Witch in reference to a man survived in dialect into 20c., but the fem. form was so dominant by 1601 that men-witches or he-witch began to be used. Extended sense of "old, ugly, and crabbed or malignant woman" is from early 15c; that of "young woman or girl of bewitching aspect or manners" is first recorded 1740. Witch doctor is from 1718; applied to African magicians from 1836.\n\nAt this day it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, 'she is a witch,' or 'she is a wise woman.'

[Reginald Scot, "The Discoverie of Witchcraft," 1584]

Etymology 1 n. 1 A person who practices witchcraft; specifically: 2 #A woman who is learned in and actively practices witchcraft. 3 #(label en Wicca) A Wiccan. 4 #(label en archaic outside dialects and Wicca) A man who practices witchcraft. vb. 1 (context obsolete English) To practise witchcraft 2 To bewitch 3 To dowse for water Etymology 2

n. A cone of paper which is placed in a vessel of lard or other fat and used as a taper.

v. cast a spell over someone or something; put a hex on someone or something [syn: hex, bewitch, glamour, enchant, jinx]

1. n. a female sorcerer or magician [syn: enchantress]

2. a being (usually female) imagined to have special powers derived from the devil

3. an ugly evil-looking old woman [syn: hag, beldam, beldame, crone]

Witch is an American stoner metal band whose members are from Vermont and Massachusetts.

The witch, Arnoglossus scapha, is a lefteye flounder of the family Bothidae, found around China and New Zealand, in waters less than 400 m in depth. Their length is from 20 to 40 cm.

Witch is the eponymous debut album of Witch, a stoner doom band founded by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. "Soul of Fire" was released as a single with a demo version of "Rip Van Winkle" as the b-side.

"Witch" is the third episode of the first season of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003). It serves as the show's first regular episode after the Pilot and originally aired in the United States on March 17, 1997, on The WB Television Network. Sometimes billed as "The Witch", the episode was directed by Stephen Cragg and was the first episode not written by show creator Joss Whedon and the first of eight with no vampire in it.

The premise of Buffy the Vampire Slayer involves an adolescent girl named Buffy Summers who is chosen by mystical forces and endowed with superhuman powers in order to defeat vampires, demons, and other evils in the fictional town of Sunnydale. She accomplishes this with the assistance of a close circle of friends and family. In "Witch", Buffy attempts to maintain a level of normalcy in her life by auditioning for her school's cheerleading squad. However, Buffy and her friends must stop a fellow student from tampering with witchcraft in order to take competitors out of the running.

The word witch derives from the Old English nouns wicca "sorcerer, male witch" and wicce "sorceress, female witch". The word's further origins in Proto-Germanic and Proto-Indo-European are unclear.

Witch is the collaborative EP by American rappers Gangsta Boo and La Chat. The EP was released on May 27, 2014, by Phixieous Entertainment. The EP features guest appearances from Fefe Dobson, Lil Wyte and Jelly Roll.

Witch were a Zambian music rock ( Zamrock) band formed in the 1970s.

Widely seen as the most popular Zambian band of the 70's, Witch (an acronym for 'We Intend to Cause Havoc') were formed during Zambia's golden post-independence days, and were headed by Emanuel “Jagari” Chanda.

With the economy collapsing in the late 1970s, and increasing government authoritarianism, Witch, like most Zamrock bands, were reduced to playing daytime shows to avoid the curfews, and faded away. As of 2013, Jagari is touring again.

A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft.

Witch or variations thereof may also refer to:

A Witch in the Buffyverse was a person who was learned in witchcraft. A witch could be either female or male, as they connected with the elements and forces of nature in order to practice sorcery.

The Witch flounder or Torbay sole (Glyptocephalus cynoglossus) is a right-eyed flatfish found in the North Atlantic.

The species lives on soft bottoms between 45 and 1460 m and prefers temperatures of 2–6 °C. It eats mostly crustaceans, worms and brittlestars. It spawns from May to September. It grows to maturity in 3 or 4 years, and may live up to 14 years.

The name Torbay sole appears to be a mainly culinary term, following the habit of renaming certain fish to broaden their appeal.

It is also called grey flounder, witch flounder as well as other local names.

The lefteye flounder Arnoglossus scapha is also known as witch.

Witch is the third EP by South Korean boy band Boyfriend. It was released physically October 13, 2014.