▪ I. witching, vbl. n.
(ˈwɪtʃɪŋ)
[OE. wiccung, vbl. n. of wiccian witch v.1: see -ing1.]
1. The use or practice of witchcraft.
| c 1000 Confess. Ecgberti xxix. in Thorpe Laws (1840) II. 154 Ᵹif hwylc wif wiccunga bega. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 213 Wicching & swikedom stale & leoð & lesiug & refloc, & alle þe luðere lastes þe man hafeð þurch deules lore. c 1290 St. Lucy 126 in S. Eng. Leg. 104 Þou art strong wichche,..Mine clerkes and mine enchauntours, bi-nime schullen þi wichchingue. 1382 Wyclif Acts viii. 11 Moche tyme he hadde maad hem mad,..with his wicchingis [1388 witche craftis]. 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. lxxxi. 121 All the enchantments or witchings of Circe. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. i. iii. 8 Bodin himselfe confesseth, that not aboue two in a hundred of their witchings or wishings take effect. 1603 Harsnet Pop. Impost. 137 Geoffry Chaucer,..spying that all these brainlesse imaginations, of witchings, possessings, house-hanting, and the rest, were the forgeries..of craftie priests. 1896 G. Chanter Witch of Withyford viii. 86 Why be the folks always telling of witches and witching? 1914 J. Mackay Ch. in Highl. iv. 152 Witching and charming were severely punished [in 17th c.]. |
2. fig. Enchantment, fascination.
| 1827–44 N. P. Willis Contempl. 26 Life had been like the witching of a dream. 1882 ‘F. Anstey’ Vice Versa iii, He felt far from hungry, and was conscious that his palate would require the adroitest witching. |
▪ II. witching, ppl. a.
(ˈwɪtʃɪŋ)
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
1. That casts a spell; enchanting, bewitching.
In quot. 1387 wycchen is of uncertain origin.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 187 In Affrica beeþ meyneys þat haueþ wycchen [v.r. wicching] tonges [linguas fascinantes]. ? c 1600 Distr. Emperor ii. i. in Bullen Old Pl. (1884) III. 185 Nor her wytchinge eie..Can challendge any share in my disgrace. 1633 P. Fletcher Pisc. Ecl. v. 5 Her witching eye the boy, and boat hath charm'd. 1747 W. Dunkin in Francis tr. Hor., Ep. ii. ii. 317 Witching Imps of Hell. |
2. transf. Of or belonging to witchcraft; concerned with the practice of witchcraft or sorcery.
| 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. v. vii. 104 But they haue lesse reason that build vpon..the supernaturall frame of transubstantiation; as almost all our witching writers doo. Ibid. xii. vii. 228 They burst the snakes with witching words. 1713 Rowe Jane Shore iv. i, Those damnable Contrivers, Who shall with Potions, Charms, and witching Drugs, Practise against our Person and our Life. |
b. spec. Of time: Belonging or appropriate to the deeds of witches and witchcraft, and hence to supposed supernatural occurrences.
In later use echoing Shakes.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 406 'Tis now the verie witching time of night, When Churchyards yawne, and Hell it selfe breaths out Contagion to this world. 1742 Blair Grave 55 Such Tales their Chear, at Wake or Gossiping, When it draws near to Witching Time of Night. 1835 Lytton Rienzi i. xii, It was now the witching hour consecrated to ghost and spirit. 1849 ― K. Arthur vi. lxvii, Just as the witching night begins to fall. |
3. fig. ‘Bewitching’, fascinating.
| ? a 1600 in Lyly's Wks. (1902) III. 497 Witching Tobacco, I will fly to thee. 1607 Dekker Whore of Babylon G 2, On my modest cheekes, No witching smiles doe dwell. 1787 Burns ‘A Prayer, in Prospect of Death’ 11 List'ning to their witching voice Has often led me wrong. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. lvii, Yet are Spain's maids..form'd for all the witching arts of love. 1890 Spectator 7 June 799/2 The spell of the witching land and its people grows on us. |
b. advb. Bewitchingly.
| 1821 Clare Vill. Minstrel I. 144 She only answer'd with a look, But it was 'witching sweet. |
Hence ˈwitchingly adv., bewitchingly.
| 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. i. vi, The soft delights, that witchingly Instil a wanton sweetness through the breast. a 1868 Lowell Nomades viii, So witchingly her finger-tips To Wisdom..She kisses. 1878 Tinsley's Mag. XXIII. 518 She was about twenty-four, with a witchingly sweet face. |