Witchcraft

:Witch redirects here.

Etymology

The origins of the term witch are highly disputed. That the word derives directly from the Old English wicca (male shaman) and/or wicce (female shaman) is hard to doubt, but the origins of the Old English words are more problematic. Contraction of witega ('wise man, prophet') is possible. Low German contains wicker (soothsayer). Other possible connections include the Old English wigle (divination), the Proto-Germanic *wikkjaz (necromancer), the Gothic weihs (holy), and the English words victim (in its original meaning for someone killed in a religious ritual) and wicked. Many neo-pagan sources assert that because the root wik- is associated with words meaning "to bend", the original meaning of the word was "one who bends the natural order" (by using magic). http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=wicce.

Related Topics:
Old English - Shaman - Wicce - Low German - Proto-Germanic - Gothic - Ritual

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Colloquially, the term witch is applied almost exclusively to women, although in earlier English the term was applied to men too. Most people would call male witches sorcerers, wizards, or warlocks; however, modern self-identified witches and Wiccans continue to use the term witch for all who practice witchcraft.

Related Topics:
English - Sorcerer - Wizard - Warlock

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