Search results
- Dictionarywitchcraft/ˈwɪtʃkrɑːft/
noun
- 1. the practice of magic, especially for evil purposes; the use of spells: "children and goods were believed to be vulnerable to the witchcraft of jealous neighbours"
Powered by Oxford Dictionaries
A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic or supernatural powers to inflict harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. [1]
- Overview
- Meanings
- Sorcery
witchcraft, traditionally, the exercise or invocation of alleged supernatural powers to control people or events, practices typically involving sorcery or magic. Although defined differently in disparate historical and cultural contexts, witchcraft has often been seen, especially in the West, as the work of crones who meet secretly at night, indulg...
The modern English word witchcraft has three principal connotations: the practice of magic or sorcery worldwide; the beliefs associated with the Western witch hunts of the 14th to the 18th century; and varieties of the modern movement called Wicca, frequently mispronounced “wikka.”
The terms witchcraft and witch derive from Old English wiccecraeft: from wicca (masculine) or wicce (feminine), pronounced “witchah” and “witchuh,” respectively, denoting someone who practices sorcery; and from craeft meaning “craft” or “skill.” Roughly equivalent words in other European languages—such as sorcellerie (French), Hexerei (German), stregoneria (Italian), and brujería (Spanish)—have different connotations, and none precisely translates another. The difficulty is even greater with the relevant words in African, Asian, and other languages. The problem of defining witchcraft is made more difficult because the concepts underlying these words also change according to time and place, sometimes radically. Moreover, different cultures do not share a coherent pattern of witchcraft beliefs, which often blend other concepts such as magic, sorcery, religion, folklore, theology, technology, and diabolism. Some societies regard a witch as a person with inherent supernatural powers, but in the West witchcraft has been more commonly believed to be an ordinary person’s free choice to learn and practice magic with the help of the supernatural. (The terms West and Western in this article refer to European societies themselves and to post-Columbian societies influenced by European concepts.) The answer to the old question “Are there such things as witches?” therefore depends upon individual belief and upon definition, and no single definition exists. One thing is certain: the emphasis on the witch in art, literature, theatre, and film has little relation to external reality.
False ideas about witchcraft and the witch hunts persist today. First, the witch hunts did not occur in the Middle Ages but in what historians call the “early modern” period (the late 14th to the early 18th century), the era of the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution. There was neither a witch-cult nor any cult, either organized or disorganized, of a “Horned God” or of any “Goddess”; Western “witches” were not members of an ancient pagan religion; and they were not healers or midwives. Moreover, not all persons accused of witchcraft were women, let alone old women; indeed, there were “witches” of all ages and sexes. Witches were not a persecuted minority, because witches did not exist: the people hurt or killed in the hunts were not witches but victims forced by their persecutors into a category that in reality included no one. The witch hunts did not prosecute, let alone execute, millions; they were not a conspiracy by males, priests, judges, doctors, or inquisitors against members of an old religion or any other real group. “Black masses” are almost entirely a fantasy of modern writers. “Witch doctors,” whose job it was to release people from evil spells, seldom existed in the West, largely because even helpful magic was attributed to demons.
Britannica Quiz
A sorcerer, magician, or “witch” attempts to influence the surrounding world through occult (i.e., hidden, as opposed to open and observable) means. In Western society until the 14th century, “witchcraft” had more in common with sorcery in other cultures—such as those of India or Africa—than it did with the witchcraft of the witch hunts. Before the...
Jun 11, 2024 · Learn the various meanings and uses of the word witchcraft, from sorcery and magic to neo-pagan traditions and religions. See synonyms, examples, word history, and related articles.
Witchcraft is the use of magic, especially in stories, to help or harm people. Learn more about the meaning, pronunciation, and usage of witchcraft with examples from the Cambridge English Corpus.
Witchcraft definition: the art or practices of a witch; sorcery or magical influence; magic, especially for evil purposes. See examples of WITCHCRAFT used in a sentence.
Oct 15, 2022 · Witchcraft is a term for various beliefs and practices that involve magic, often associated with women and evil. Learn about the origins, varieties and realities of witchcraft from historical and contemporary perspectives.
Witchcraft is the activity of performing magic to help or harm other people. Learn more about the meaning, usage and history of this word, and see examples from various sources.
