witching
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English wicching, wicchand, equivalent to witch + -ing.
Adjective edit
witching (comparative more witching, superlative most witching)
- Of or pertaining to witchcraft or sorcery, or to witches or sorcerers.
- a. 1822 (date written), John Keats, “[Supplementary Verses.] A Prophecy: To George Keats in America.”, in [Horace Elisha Scudder], editor, The Complete Poetical Works and Letters of John Keats, Cambridge edition, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], published 1899, →OCLC, page 249, column 1:
- 'Tis the witching time of night, / Orbed is the moon and bright, / And the Stars they glisten, glisten, / Seeming with bright eyes to listen.
- Of a person: having the power to bewitch someone or something.
- (archaic) Bewitching, enchanting.
- 1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds:
- But who is this witching beauty by his side, who would fain impress you with a belief that that mischief which will not remain concealed for the briefest period, is not her entire composition?
Derived terms edit
Verb edit
witching
- present participle and gerund of witch
Etymology 2 edit
From Middle English wicchinge, from Old English wiċċung (“witching, witchcraft”), equivalent to witch + -ing.
Noun edit
witching (plural witchings)
- gerund of witch: an act of witchcraft.
- 2002, Christine Gentry, When Spirits Walk, page 28:
- There was a lot of information to draw upon because his occupation exposed him to more witchings every month than most individuals experienced in a life time.