wicchecraft

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English wiccecræft; equivalent to wicche +‎ -craft.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈwit͡ʃ(ə)kraft/, /ˈwit͡ʃ(ə)krɛft/

Noun

wicchecraft (plural wicchecraftes)

  1. witchcraft, magic
    • 1387, chapter XLIV, in John Trevisa, transl., Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden Monachi Cestrensis:
      And in þat ilond is sortilege and wicchecraft [translating superstitiones, atque præstigia] i-vsed. For wommen þere selliþ schipmen wynde, as it were i-closed vnder þre knottes of þrede, so þat þe more wynd he wol haue, he wil vnknette þe mo knottes.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. spell, a particular instance of witchcraft
  3. enchantment; the result of witchcraft

Descendants

  • English: witchcraft

References

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