wicche

Middle English

Alternative forms

• wyche, wycch, weche, wytche, wycche, witche, wecche, wychche, wichche, wech, wicch

Etymology

From the merger (due to regular sound change) of Old English wiċċe and wicca, from Proto-Germanic *wikkô.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwit͡ʃ(ə)/, /ˈweːt͡ʃ(ə)/

Noun

wicche (plural wicches or (early) wicchen)

1. witch, wizard, sorceror
   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[1], published c. 1410, Dedis of Apoſtlis 8:9-10, page 96r, column 2; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     þerfoꝛ greet ioie was maad in þat citee but þer was a man in þat citee whos name was ſymount a wicch þat hadde diſſeyued þe folk of ſamarie. ſeiynge þat him ſelf was ſum greet man / whom alle herknyden. fro þe leest to þe moost .· ⁊ ſeiden / þis is þe vertu of god .· which is clepid greet

     So plenty of rejoicing occurred in that city. But there was a man in that city whose name was Simon; a sorceror who'd deceived the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone important. / Everyone listened, from the low to the high, and said "This is the power of God which is called great!".

2. pagan, heretic, nonbeliever

Related terms

• wicchecraft
• wicchen
• wikke
• wikked

Descendants

• English: witch
• Scots: wich, wech, witch

References

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