cunning woman

English

Noun

cunning woman (plural cunning women)

1. (historical) A witch or sorceress.
   • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, page 185:

     Joan Warden of Stapleford, Cambridgeshire, when charged in 1592 with being a cunning woman, declared that 'she doth not use any charms, but that she doth use ointments and herbs to cure many diseases'.

See also

• cunning man