"widdershins" meaning in All languages combined

See widdershins on Wiktionary

Adverb [English]

IPA: /ˈwɪ.də.ʃɪnz/ [UK], /ˈwɪ.dɚ.ʃɪnz/ [US] Audio: en-us-widdershins.ogg [US]
Etymology: Ca. 1500, from Middle Low German weddersins (also wēder-, -sinnes), from wed(d)der- (“wither-, against, opposite”) + genitive of sin (“direction, way”). Etymology templates: {{bor|en|gml|weddersins}} Middle Low German weddersins, {{m|gml||wēder-, -sinnes}} wēder-, -sinnes, {{m|gml|wed(d)der-||wither-, against, opposite}} wed(d)der- (“wither-, against, opposite”), {{m|gmh|sin||direction, way}} sin (“direction, way”) Head templates: {{en-adv|-}} widdershins (not comparable)
  1. (obsolete) The wrong way. Tags: not-comparable, obsolete
    Sense id: en-widdershins-en-adv-NovYU4uo
  2. Anticlockwise, counter-clockwise. Tags: not-comparable Categories (topical): Wicca Translations (anticlockwise, counter-clockwise): обратно на часовниковата стрелка (obratno na časovnikovata strelka) (Bulgarian), proti směru hodinových ručiček (Czech), linksom (Dutch), tegen de klok in (Dutch), tegenwijzerzin (Dutch), vastapäivään (Finnish), gegen den Uhrzeigersinn (German), против часово́й стрелки (protiv časovój strelki) (Russian), противосолонь (protivosolonʹ) (Russian), tuathail (Scottish Gaelic), en sentido contrario al reloj (Spanish), sinistrorso (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-widdershins-en-adv-uJAczAmB Disambiguation of Wicca: 0 100 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with topic categories using raw markup, Middle Low German links with redundant wikilinks Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 8 92 Disambiguation of English entries with topic categories using raw markup: 5 95 Disambiguation of Middle Low German links with redundant wikilinks: 0 100 Disambiguation of 'anticlockwise, counter-clockwise': 0 100
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: withershins [uncommon], widdersins, withersins [archaic]

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for widdershins meaning in All languages combined (8.8kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gml",
        "3": "weddersins"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Low German weddersins",
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gml",
        "2": "",
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      },
      "expansion": "wed(d)der- (“wither-, against, opposite”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gmh",
        "2": "sin",
        "3": "",
        "4": "direction, way"
      },
      "expansion": "sin (“direction, way”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Ca. 1500, from Middle Low German weddersins (also wēder-, -sinnes), from wed(d)der- (“wither-, against, opposite”) + genitive of sin (“direction, way”).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
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      },
      "expansion": "widdershins (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "The wrong way."
      ],
      "id": "en-widdershins-en-adv-NovYU4uo",
      "links": [
        [
          "wrong",
          "wrong"
        ],
        [
          "way",
          "way"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) The wrong way."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    },
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "clockwise"
        },
        {
          "word": "sunwise"
        },
        {
          "word": "deiseal"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It is unlucky to walk widdershins around a church."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1946, Herbert McKay, The World of Numbers, Cambridge University Press, →OL, page 45",
          "text": "Astronomers cannot help regarding the solar system as a small widdershins universe, because the real movements with which they are familiar are nearly all widdershins: the rotation of the sun on its axis, the rotation and revolution of the earth and the moon, the rotation and revolution of the planets and of most of their satellites.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1970, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle, published 1984, page x. 136",
          "text": "\"'Widdershins, brother!\" said Catweazle impatiently. \"Widdershins!\" \"What are you babbling about?\" said Carrot. \"We must seek protection. Dost not know 'widdershins?\" \"No,\" said Carrot. \"'Tis beyond belief,\" said Catweazle, shaking his head. Spreading his arms, the old sorcerer crouched down and began to revolve on the spot. Faster and faster he whirled until he was like a spinning top.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1989, Ken Radford, Fire Burn, page 81",
          "text": "Cummer, go ye before, cummer, go ye.\nIf ye willna go before, cummer, let me.\nRing-a-ring a-widdershins\nLinkin' lithely widdershins\nCummer carlin crone and queen\nRoun' go we!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995, Estelle Daniels, Astrologickal Magick, Weiser Books, page 23",
          "text": "The next hour wedge in a counterclockwise (or widdershins) direction, between 8:00 and 7:00 is the 2nd house. The 8:00 line is the cusp of the 2nd house. You continue all around the wheel widdershins until you get to the hour wedge ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Laura Perry, The Wiccan Wellness Book: Natural Healthcare for Mind, Body, and Spirit, Career Press, page 87",
          "text": "I like to carry the incense widdershins around the room (widdershins being the direction of banishing) and then also run the incense widdershins around windows, doors, and mirrors. You can also do this type of cleansing with a container of ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Melissa Roth, The Left Stuff: How the Left-Handed Have Survived and Thrived in a Right-Handed World, Government Institutes, page 29",
          "text": "They even had a word for it, widdershins, an adaptation of the German word wiederschein, which means “against the sun.” If you walked around a bonfire counterclockwise, or widdershins, you were suspected of harboring a penchant for ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Michael Ford, Luciferian Witchcraft, Lulu.com, page 98",
          "text": "Widdershins are movements around the circle in an anti clockwise dance. Some witches may find it useful to recite the Lord's Prayer Backwards while moving widdershins in the beginning of the Sabbat Rite, this allowing or 'giving permission' ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Ruth Barrett, Women's Rites, Women's Mysteries: Intuitive Ritual Creation, Llewellyn Worldwide, page 88",
          "text": "In the Dianic tradition, the cast circle is opened in conjunction with valedictions in reverse order, also known as widdershins or counterclockwise, starting with a valediction to earth and moving from north, to west, to south, to east. In the Dianic ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Ann Finnin, The Forge of Tubal Cain, Pendraig Publishing, page 55",
          "text": "The one thing we didn't think of, due in part to our quasi-Gardnerian training, is that one grinds the mill widdershins — counterclockwise, not clockwise. The counterclockwise motion (also called “Moonwise”) churns the energy against ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Dion Fortune, Psychic Self-Defense: The Classic Instruction Manual for Protecting Yourself Against Paranormal Attack, Weiser Books, page 197",
          "text": "The contrary way is widdershins, the way in which the witches danced at the Sabbats. The deosil movement affirms the rule of God's law in Nature because it is the Way of the Sun; the widdershins movement repudiates God's rule over Nature ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Juliet Blackwell, In a Witch's Wardrobe: A Witchcraft Mystery, New York, NY: New American Library, page 32",
          "text": "Before people started arriving, I began the day as I always did: by sprinkling saltwater widdershins—counterclockwise—around the perimeter of my shop, then smudging deosil—clockwise—with a sage bundle.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Anticlockwise, counter-clockwise."
      ],
      "id": "en-widdershins-en-adv-uJAczAmB",
      "links": [
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          "Anticlockwise",
          "anticlockwise"
        ],
        [
          "counter-clockwise",
          "counter-clockwise"
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      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "obratno na časovnikovata strelka",
          "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
          "word": "обратно на часовниковата стрелка"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
          "word": "proti směru hodinových ručiček"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
          "word": "linksom"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
          "word": "tegen de klok in"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
          "word": "tegenwijzerzin"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
          "word": "vastapäivään"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
          "word": "gegen den Uhrzeigersinn"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "protiv časovój strelki",
          "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
          "word": "против часово́й стрелки"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "protivosolonʹ",
          "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
          "word": "противосолонь"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "gd",
          "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
          "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
          "word": "tuathail"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
          "word": "en sentido contrario al reloj"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 100",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
          "word": "sinistrorso"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈwɪ.də.ʃɪnz/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
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    },
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      "ipa": "/ˈwɪ.dɚ.ʃɪnz/",
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      "audio": "en-us-widdershins.ogg",
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/En-us-widdershins.ogg",
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "tags": [
        "uncommon"
      ],
      "word": "withershins"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "widdersins"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ],
      "word": "withersins"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "widdershins"
  ],
  "word": "widdershins"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English 3-syllable words",
    "English adverbs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms borrowed from Middle Low German",
    "English terms derived from Middle Low German",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English uncomparable adverbs",
    "Middle Low German links with redundant wikilinks",
    "en:Wicca"
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  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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        "3": "weddersins"
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      "expansion": "Middle Low German weddersins",
      "name": "bor"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "gml",
        "2": "",
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      "name": "m"
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      "args": {
        "1": "gmh",
        "2": "sin",
        "3": "",
        "4": "direction, way"
      },
      "expansion": "sin (“direction, way”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Ca. 1500, from Middle Low German weddersins (also wēder-, -sinnes), from wed(d)der- (“wither-, against, opposite”) + genitive of sin (“direction, way”).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "widdershins (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with obsolete senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The wrong way."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "wrong",
          "wrong"
        ],
        [
          "way",
          "way"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(obsolete) The wrong way."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    },
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "clockwise"
        },
        {
          "word": "sunwise"
        },
        {
          "word": "deiseal"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It is unlucky to walk widdershins around a church."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1946, Herbert McKay, The World of Numbers, Cambridge University Press, →OL, page 45",
          "text": "Astronomers cannot help regarding the solar system as a small widdershins universe, because the real movements with which they are familiar are nearly all widdershins: the rotation of the sun on its axis, the rotation and revolution of the earth and the moon, the rotation and revolution of the planets and of most of their satellites.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1970, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle, published 1984, page x. 136",
          "text": "\"'Widdershins, brother!\" said Catweazle impatiently. \"Widdershins!\" \"What are you babbling about?\" said Carrot. \"We must seek protection. Dost not know 'widdershins?\" \"No,\" said Carrot. \"'Tis beyond belief,\" said Catweazle, shaking his head. Spreading his arms, the old sorcerer crouched down and began to revolve on the spot. Faster and faster he whirled until he was like a spinning top.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1989, Ken Radford, Fire Burn, page 81",
          "text": "Cummer, go ye before, cummer, go ye.\nIf ye willna go before, cummer, let me.\nRing-a-ring a-widdershins\nLinkin' lithely widdershins\nCummer carlin crone and queen\nRoun' go we!",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995, Estelle Daniels, Astrologickal Magick, Weiser Books, page 23",
          "text": "The next hour wedge in a counterclockwise (or widdershins) direction, between 8:00 and 7:00 is the 2nd house. The 8:00 line is the cusp of the 2nd house. You continue all around the wheel widdershins until you get to the hour wedge ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Laura Perry, The Wiccan Wellness Book: Natural Healthcare for Mind, Body, and Spirit, Career Press, page 87",
          "text": "I like to carry the incense widdershins around the room (widdershins being the direction of banishing) and then also run the incense widdershins around windows, doors, and mirrors. You can also do this type of cleansing with a container of ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Melissa Roth, The Left Stuff: How the Left-Handed Have Survived and Thrived in a Right-Handed World, Government Institutes, page 29",
          "text": "They even had a word for it, widdershins, an adaptation of the German word wiederschein, which means “against the sun.” If you walked around a bonfire counterclockwise, or widdershins, you were suspected of harboring a penchant for ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Michael Ford, Luciferian Witchcraft, Lulu.com, page 98",
          "text": "Widdershins are movements around the circle in an anti clockwise dance. Some witches may find it useful to recite the Lord's Prayer Backwards while moving widdershins in the beginning of the Sabbat Rite, this allowing or 'giving permission' ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Ruth Barrett, Women's Rites, Women's Mysteries: Intuitive Ritual Creation, Llewellyn Worldwide, page 88",
          "text": "In the Dianic tradition, the cast circle is opened in conjunction with valedictions in reverse order, also known as widdershins or counterclockwise, starting with a valediction to earth and moving from north, to west, to south, to east. In the Dianic ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Ann Finnin, The Forge of Tubal Cain, Pendraig Publishing, page 55",
          "text": "The one thing we didn't think of, due in part to our quasi-Gardnerian training, is that one grinds the mill widdershins — counterclockwise, not clockwise. The counterclockwise motion (also called “Moonwise”) churns the energy against ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Dion Fortune, Psychic Self-Defense: The Classic Instruction Manual for Protecting Yourself Against Paranormal Attack, Weiser Books, page 197",
          "text": "The contrary way is widdershins, the way in which the witches danced at the Sabbats. The deosil movement affirms the rule of God's law in Nature because it is the Way of the Sun; the widdershins movement repudiates God's rule over Nature ...",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Juliet Blackwell, In a Witch's Wardrobe: A Witchcraft Mystery, New York, NY: New American Library, page 32",
          "text": "Before people started arriving, I began the day as I always did: by sprinkling saltwater widdershins—counterclockwise—around the perimeter of my shop, then smudging deosil—clockwise—with a sage bundle.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Anticlockwise, counter-clockwise."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Anticlockwise",
          "anticlockwise"
        ],
        [
          "counter-clockwise",
          "counter-clockwise"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
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      "ipa": "/ˈwɪ.də.ʃɪnz/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
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      "ipa": "/ˈwɪ.dɚ.ʃɪnz/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
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    {
      "audio": "en-us-widdershins.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f5/En-us-widdershins.ogg/En-us-widdershins.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/En-us-widdershins.ogg",
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "tags": [
        "uncommon"
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      "word": "withershins"
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      "word": "widdersins"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ],
      "word": "withersins"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "obratno na časovnikovata strelka",
      "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
      "word": "обратно на часовниковата стрелка"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
      "word": "proti směru hodinových ručiček"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
      "word": "linksom"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
      "word": "tegen de klok in"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
      "word": "tegenwijzerzin"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
      "word": "vastapäivään"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
      "word": "gegen den Uhrzeigersinn"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "protiv časovój strelki",
      "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
      "word": "против часово́й стрелки"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "protivosolonʹ",
      "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
      "word": "противосолонь"
    },
    {
      "code": "gd",
      "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
      "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
      "word": "tuathail"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
      "word": "en sentido contrario al reloj"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "anticlockwise, counter-clockwise",
      "word": "sinistrorso"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "widdershins"
  ],
  "word": "widdershins"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.