witchとは

意味・読み方・使い方

語源 1

From Middle English wicche, from 古期英語 wiċċe (“sorceress, witch”) f. and wicca (“witch, sorcerer, warlock”) m., deverbative from wiccian (“to practice sorcery”), from Proto-Germanic *wikkōną (compare West Frisian wikje, wikke (“to foretell, warn”), Low German wicken (“to soothsay”), Dutch wikken, wichelen (“to dowse, divine”)), from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh₂-, derivation of *weyk- (“to consecrate; separate”);^[1] akin to Latin victima (“sacrificial victim”), Lithuanian viẽkas (“life-force”), Sanskrit विनक्ति (vinákti, “to set apart, separate out”).

名詞

witch (複数形 witches)

1. A person who practices witchcraft; a woman or (now まれに) man who practices witchcraft.
   • a. 1472, Thomas Malory, “Capitulum viij”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book I, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, OCLC 71490786; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: Published by David Nutt, […], 1889, OCLC 890162034:

     Some of the kynges had merueyl of Merlyns wordes and demed well that it shold be as he said / And som of hem lough hym to scorne / as kyng Lot / and mo other called hym a wytche / But thenne were they accorded with Merlyn that kynge Arthur shold come oute and speke with the kynges.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:witch.
   1. (now usually particularly) A woman who is learned in and actively practices witchcraft.
      • c. 1597, William Shakespeare, “The Merry VViues of VVindsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene 2]:

        He cannot abide the old woman of Brentford; he swears she's a witch.

2. (derogatory) An ugly or unpleasant woman.

   I hate that old witch.

3. One who exercises more-than-common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person.
4. One given to mischief, especially a woman or child.
5. (geometry) A certain curve of the third order, described by Maria Agnesi under the name versiera.
6. The stormy petrel.
7. Any of a number of flatfish:
   1. Glyptocephalus cynoglossus (Torbay sole), found in the North Atlantic.
   2. Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis (megrim), found in the North Atlantic.
   3. Arnoglossus scapha, found near New Zealand.
8. The Indomalayan butterfly Araotes lapithis, of the family Lycaenidae.

同意語

• (person who uses magic): See Thesaurus:magician
• (female magic user): wizardess, sorceress
• (male magic user): wizard, sorcerer, warlock
• (an ugly または unpleasant woman): See Thesaurus:old woman or Thesaurus:ugly woman or Thesaurus:shrew

派生語

Further reading

• Arnoglossus scapha on Wikipedia.
• Arnoglossus scapha on Wikispecies.
• Arnoglossus scapha on Wikimedia Commons.

動詞

witch (三人称単数 現在形 witches, 現在分詞 witching, 過去形および過去分詞形 witched)

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To practise witchcraft.
2. (obsolete, transitive) To bewitch.
   • 1900, Gilbert Murray, Andromache: A Play in Three Acts:

     She has witched the Queen's womb long ago, and witched the whole harvest.

3. (intransitive) To dowse for water.
   • 1964, Hilda E. Webb, Water Witching and Other Folk Talents in the Neighborhood of Bloomington, Indiana:

     And I told him there's a vein down there, I know 'caus I used to--uh, I went out here and witched one for this house, at the corner.

   • 2006, Helen Ayers, Appalachian Daughter: The Exodus of the Mountaineers from Appalachia:

     Nothing would make him shut up until I brought my dogwood stick into his office and witched for water.

   • 2010, C.J. Ott, True Stories: Memories, Musings, Odds and Ends:

     Eventually, Don and Jim built nice big houses on their lots. We enjoyed watching them being built. I remember Don's builder came out and “witched” for a well.

派生語

• witcher

参考

参照

語源 2

Compare wick.

名詞

witch (複数形 witches)

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