Wicce

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A sorceress or witch, often associated with magical practices and folk healing
2. An individual reputed to have the ability to cast spells or summon supernatural forces, particularly in historical contexts
3. A woman believed to possess knowledge and powers related to the mystical or occult, commonly linked to herbalism and divination

Etymology: In Old English, a "wicce" was a woman who practiced "wiccian", the verb for working magic, divining, or healing with charms. The masculine form, "wicca", was used for male practitioners, and the feminine ending marked the woman. Unlike the modern "witch," which is mostly applied to women, the older pair kept the sexes distinct, and the masculine form eventually faded out of use. The root is uncertain. Scholars connect the group to Germanic words for a sorcerer or seer, such as Old Norse "vitki," but the exact origin of the stem has not been firmly established. The Old English term appears in glosses and texts where it translates Latin words for sorceresses and diviners, so its early sense was closer to "practitioner of magic" than to the herbalist-diviner image often associated with it now. By the later medieval period, "witch" had largely displaced the feminine form, and the broader sense of harmful magic came to dominate.

Synonyms: witch