witchery

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Old English wiċċe Proto-Germanic *wikkōną Proto-West Germanic *wikkōn Proto-West Germanic *-ō Proto-West Germanic *wikkō Old English wiċċa Middle English wicche English witch Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusnom. Latin -ārius Old French -ier Latin -ia Old French -ie Old French -eriebor. Middle English -erie English -ery English witchery From witch + -ery.

1. Witchcraft.

   “You are right to some extent in what you say. In the olden days people had a stronger belief in all kinds of witchery; now they pretend not to believe in it, that they may be looked upon as sensible and educated people, as you say.”

   “They are determined that I shall be burnt as a witch; and they sent their doctor to cure me; but he was forbidden to bleed me because the silly people believe that a witch’s witchery leaves her if she is bled; so he only called me filthy names.”

2. An act of witchcraft.

   “It may be they know something of the witcheries of this woman.”

3. Allure, charm, magic.

   “At noon, when by the forest's edge / He lay beneath the branches high, / The soft blue sky did never melt / Into his heart,—he never felt / The witchery of the soft blue sky!”

   “I am influenced—conquered; and the influence is sweeter than I can express; and the conquest I undergo has a witchery beyond any triumph I can win.”