"witching" meaning in English

See witching in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Forms: more witching [comparative], most witching [superlative]
Etymology: From Middle English wicching, wicchand, equivalent to witch + -ing. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|wicching}} Middle English wicching, {{af|en|witch|-ing|id2=participial}} witch + -ing Head templates: {{en-adj}} witching (comparative more witching, superlative most witching)
  1. Of or pertaining to witchcraft or sorcery, or to witches or sorcerers.
    Sense id: en-witching-en-adj-35Wif6Xq Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ing (participial), Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 48 12 12 25 3 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ing (participial): 35 11 29 25 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 37 7 19 31 6 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 44 3 26 24 2
  2. Of a person: having the power to bewitch someone or something.
    Sense id: en-witching-en-adj-QNpRo1oF Categories (other): English terms suffixed with -ing (participial) Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ing (participial): 35 11 29 25
  3. (archaic) Bewitching, enchanting. Tags: archaic
    Sense id: en-witching-en-adj-VEmHptdl Categories (other): English terms suffixed with -ing (participial), Pages with 1 entry Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ing (participial): 35 11 29 25 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 37 7 19 31 6
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: triple witching hour, witching hour
Etymology number: 1

Noun

Forms: witchings [plural]
Etymology: From Middle English wicchinge, from Old English wiċċung (“witching, witchcraft”), equivalent to witch + -ing. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|wicchinge}} Middle English wicchinge, {{inh|en|ang|wiċċung|t=witching, witchcraft}} Old English wiċċung (“witching, witchcraft”), {{af|en|witch|-ing|id2=gerund noun}} witch + -ing Head templates: {{en-noun}} witching (plural witchings)
  1. gerund of witch: an act of witchcraft. Tags: form-of, gerund Form of: witch (extra: an act of witchcraft) Derived forms: quadruple witching, triple witching, water witching
    Sense id: en-witching-en-noun-mJZKpJ0C Categories (other): English terms suffixed with -ing (gerund noun), Pages with 1 entry Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ing (gerund noun): 20 5 15 33 26 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 37 7 19 31 6
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Verb

Etymology: From Middle English wicching, wicchand, equivalent to witch + -ing. Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|wicching}} Middle English wicching, {{af|en|witch|-ing|id2=participial}} witch + -ing Head templates: {{head|en|verb form}} witching
  1. present participle and gerund of witch Tags: form-of, gerund, participle, present Form of: witch
    Sense id: en-witching-en-verb-1v~mqFnn Categories (other): English terms suffixed with -ing (participial) Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ing (participial): 35 11 29 25
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "triple witching hour"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "witching hour"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "wicching"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English wicching",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "witch",
        "3": "-ing",
        "id2": "participial"
      },
      "expansion": "witch + -ing",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English wicching, wicchand, equivalent to witch + -ing.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more witching",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most witching",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "witching (comparative more witching, superlative most witching)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "48 12 12 25 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "35 11 29 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ing (participial)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "37 7 19 31 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "44 3 26 24 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "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:",
          "text": "'Tis the witching time of night, / Orbed is the moon and bright, / And the Stars they glisten, glisten, / Seeming with bright eyes to listen.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of or pertaining to witchcraft or sorcery, or to witches or sorcerers."
      ],
      "id": "en-witching-en-adj-35Wif6Xq",
      "links": [
        [
          "witchcraft",
          "witchcraft"
        ],
        [
          "sorcery",
          "sorcery"
        ],
        [
          "witches",
          "witch#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "sorcerer",
          "sorcerer"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "35 11 29 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ing (participial)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of a person: having the power to bewitch someone or something."
      ],
      "id": "en-witching-en-adj-QNpRo1oF",
      "links": [
        [
          "person",
          "person#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "power",
          "power#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "bewitch",
          "bewitch"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "35 11 29 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ing (participial)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "37 7 19 31 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds:",
          "text": "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?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Bewitching, enchanting."
      ],
      "id": "en-witching-en-adj-VEmHptdl",
      "links": [
        [
          "Bewitching",
          "bewitching#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "enchanting",
          "enchanting#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic) Bewitching, enchanting."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "witching"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "wicching"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English wicching",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "witch",
        "3": "-ing",
        "id2": "participial"
      },
      "expansion": "witch + -ing",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English wicching, wicchand, equivalent to witch + -ing.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "verb form"
      },
      "expansion": "witching",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "35 11 29 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ing (participial)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "witch"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "present participle and gerund of witch"
      ],
      "id": "en-witching-en-verb-1v~mqFnn",
      "links": [
        [
          "witch",
          "witch#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "gerund",
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "witching"
}

{
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "wicchinge"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English wicchinge",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "wiċċung",
        "t": "witching, witchcraft"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English wiċċung (“witching, witchcraft”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "witch",
        "3": "-ing",
        "id2": "gerund noun"
      },
      "expansion": "witch + -ing",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English wicchinge, from Old English wiċċung (“witching, witchcraft”), equivalent to witch + -ing.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "witchings",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "witching (plural witchings)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "20 5 15 33 26",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -ing (gerund noun)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "37 7 19 31 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "quadruple witching"
        },
        {
          "word": "triple witching"
        },
        {
          "word": "water witching"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2002, Christine Gentry, When Spirits Walk, page 28:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "extra": "an act of witchcraft",
          "word": "witch"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "gerund of witch: an act of witchcraft."
      ],
      "id": "en-witching-en-noun-mJZKpJ0C",
      "links": [
        [
          "witch",
          "witch#English"
        ],
        [
          "act",
          "act#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "witchcraft",
          "witchcraft"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "gerund"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "witching"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English non-lemma forms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms suffixed with -ing (gerund noun)",
    "English terms suffixed with -ing (participial)",
    "English verb forms",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "triple witching hour"
    },
    {
      "word": "witching hour"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "wicching"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English wicching",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "witch",
        "3": "-ing",
        "id2": "participial"
      },
      "expansion": "witch + -ing",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English wicching, wicchand, equivalent to witch + -ing.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more witching",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most witching",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "witching (comparative more witching, superlative most witching)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "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:",
          "text": "'Tis the witching time of night, / Orbed is the moon and bright, / And the Stars they glisten, glisten, / Seeming with bright eyes to listen.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of or pertaining to witchcraft or sorcery, or to witches or sorcerers."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "witchcraft",
          "witchcraft"
        ],
        [
          "sorcery",
          "sorcery"
        ],
        [
          "witches",
          "witch#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "sorcerer",
          "sorcerer"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Of a person: having the power to bewitch someone or something."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "person",
          "person#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "power",
          "power#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "bewitch",
          "bewitch"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with archaic senses",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds:",
          "text": "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?",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Bewitching, enchanting."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Bewitching",
          "bewitching#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "enchanting",
          "enchanting#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic) Bewitching, enchanting."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "witching"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English non-lemma forms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms suffixed with -ing (gerund noun)",
    "English terms suffixed with -ing (participial)",
    "English verb forms",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "wicching"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English wicching",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "witch",
        "3": "-ing",
        "id2": "participial"
      },
      "expansion": "witch + -ing",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English wicching, wicchand, equivalent to witch + -ing.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "verb form"
      },
      "expansion": "witching",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "witch"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "present participle and gerund of witch"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "witch",
          "witch#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "gerund",
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "witching"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms suffixed with -ing (gerund noun)",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "quadruple witching"
    },
    {
      "word": "triple witching"
    },
    {
      "word": "water witching"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "wicchinge"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English wicchinge",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "wiċċung",
        "t": "witching, witchcraft"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English wiċċung (“witching, witchcraft”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "witch",
        "3": "-ing",
        "id2": "gerund noun"
      },
      "expansion": "witch + -ing",
      "name": "af"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English wicchinge, from Old English wiċċung (“witching, witchcraft”), equivalent to witch + -ing.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "witchings",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "witching (plural witchings)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English gerunds",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2002, Christine Gentry, When Spirits Walk, page 28:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "extra": "an act of witchcraft",
          "word": "witch"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "gerund of witch: an act of witchcraft."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "witch",
          "witch#English"
        ],
        [
          "act",
          "act#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "witchcraft",
          "witchcraft"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "gerund"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "witching"
}

Download raw JSONL data for witching meaning in English (5.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-21 using wiktextract (7c21d10 and f2e72e5). 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.