Etymograph

English

witch

Witch comes from Middle English wicche ‘witch, wizard, sorcerer’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to separate (out as holy)’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-‘to separate (out as holy)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wik-nā́-ti ~ *wik-un-ántireconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wikkōną‘to practice sorcery’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wikkōn‘to practice sorcery’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*wikkō‘sorcerer, warlock’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150wiċċa‘witch, wizard, sorcerer, magician, druid, necromancer’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wicche‘witch, wizard, sorcerer’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597witch

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-‘to separate (out as holy)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wik-nā́-ti ~ *wik-un-ántireconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wikkōną‘to practice sorcery’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wikkōn‘to practice sorcery’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanic, derivedc. 200–500 CE*wikkō‘sorcerer, warlock’reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150wiċċa‘witch, wizard, sorcerer, magician, druid, necromancer’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wicche‘witch, wizard, sorcerer’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597witch

Earliest quotation: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wiues of Windsor: “He cannot abide the old woman of Brentford; he…”

The story

The noun is from Middle English wicche, from Old English wiċċe (‘(female) witch; sorceress’) and wiċċa (‘(male) witch; sorcerer; warlock’), deverbative from wiċċian (‘to practice sorcery’), from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną (compare West Frisian wikje, wikke (‘to foretell; to warn’), German Low German wicken (‘to soothsay’), Dutch wikken, wichelen (‘to dowse; to divine’)), from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk- (‘to consecrate; to separate’); akin to Latin victima (‘sacrificial victim’), Lithuanian viẽkas (‘life-force’), Sanskrit वि॒नक्ति॑ (vinákti, “to set apart; to separate out”). Possibly related to wicked; see that entry for more. The mathematical curve derives from a translation by John Colson of the Italian versiera, from a confusion with versoria (‘rope’) and avversaria (‘witch’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to separate (out as holy)’

victory, victim, province, convince, weakness, victor, icon, conviction, wo, convict, invincible, eviction, vicar, weakly, evict, wight, vanquish, ancona, waw, wickedly, wile, 31 more

through Proto-West Germanic *wikkō ‘sorcerer, warlock’

wickedness, 1 more

through Old English wiċċa ‘witch, wizard, sorcerer, magician, druid,…’

wicked, 2 more

Another origin of witch

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wik-néh₂-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wikkōną‘to practice sorcery’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150wiċċian‘to practice witchcraft’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wicchen‘to perform witchcraft or magic’
  5. Englishtodaywitch

In the senses arising in Middle English and later probably aphetic from bewitch.

Today it means

noun A person (now usually particularly a woman) who uses magical or similar supernatural powers to influence or predict events, particularly one with malicious motives.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyk- / witch

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