wicchecraft

Middle English

Alternative forms

• wicche craft(e), wicchecrafte, wicchecreft, wich-crafte, wiche-craft, wichecrafte, witchcraft, wycche crauffte, wycchecraft, wychecraft, wychecreft, wytchecraft

Etymology

From Old English wiccecræft; equivalent to wicche +‎ -craft.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwit͡ʃ(ə)kraft/, /ˈwit͡ʃ(ə)krɛft/

Noun

wicchecraft (plural wicchecraftes)

1. witchcraft, magic
   • 1387, chapter XLIV, in John Trevisa, transl., Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden Monachi Cestrensis:

     And in þat ilond is sortilege and wicchecraft [translating superstitiones, atque præstigia] i-vsed. For wommen þere selliþ schipmen wynde, as it were i-closed vnder þre knottes of þrede, so þat þe more wynd he wol haue, he wil vnknette þe mo knottes.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. spell, a particular instance of witchcraft
3. enchantment; the result of witchcraft

Descendants

• English: witchcraft

References

• “wicche-craft, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-11.