Wiktionary

bewitch

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English bewicchen, bewycchen, biwicchen, equivalent to be- +‎ witch.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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bewitch (third-person singular simple present bewitches, present participle bewitching, simple past and past participle bewitched)

  1. (transitive) To cast a spell upon.
    • 1852, Thomas Wright, “Witchcraft in England during the Earlier Part of the Seventeenth Century” (chapter XXIV), in Narratives of Sorcery and Witchcraft from the most Authentic Sources, page 288:
      And further, this examinate saith, that she sent both her spirits to Stonesby, to one Willison, a husbandman, and Robert Williman, a husbandman's son, and bade the kitten go to Willison and bewitch him to death, and the moldiwarp to the other and bewitch him to death, which they did, and within ten days they died.
    • 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter II, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 10:
      Afterwards Jim said the witches bewitched him and put him in a trance, […]
    • 1901, Andrew Lang, “The Fairy of the Dawn”, in The Violet Fairy Book‎[1]:
      But above all beware never to look the Fairy of the Dawn in the face, for she has eyes that will bewitch you, and glances that will befool you.
  2. (transitive) To fascinate or charm.
    Synonym: forspeak (obsolete)
    I was bewitched by the sight of the girl dancing in the forest.
    • 1648, Robert Herrick, “Delight in Disorder”, in Hesperides: Or, The Works both Humane & Divine […], London: […] John Williams, and Francis Eglesfield, and are to be sold by Tho[mas] Hunt, […], →OCLC, page 29:
      A Svveet diſorder in the dreſſe / Kindles in cloathes a vvantonneſſe: / […] / A Cuffe neglectfull, and thereby / Ribbands to flovv confuſedly: / […] / Do more bevvitch me, than vvhen Art / Is too preciſe in every part.
  3. (transitive, rare) To astonish, amaze.
    • 1967 May 9, Eldon Wylie Griffiths, “Fuel And Power Policy”, in parliamentary debates (UK House Of Commons)‎[2], volume 746, column 1260:
      Is it not a fact that the miners of this country are bewildered and bewitched and do not know what is to happen?

Derived terms

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Translations

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