sb. (Also with hyphen.) [WHITE a. 7 b.] A witch (or wizard) of a good disposition; one who uses witchcraft for beneficent purposes; one who practises ‘white magic.’
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., II. i. I. i. 289. Sorcerers are too common, Cunning men, Wisards, & white-witches, as they call them, in every village.
1689. C. Mather, Mem. Provid. (1691), 95. Creatures that they call White Witches, which do only Good-Turns for their Neighbours.
1715. Addison, Drummer, II. i. The common people call him a wizard, a white-witch.
1746. Exmoor Courtship (E.D.S.), 440. Tha Whit Witch.
1806. J. Carr, Stranger in Irel., 265. The white witch … at Exeter,… who has female agents to whom she has imparted a portion of her magic, in almost every village, who have the property of discovering pilferers and stopping blood.
1855. Kingsley, Westw. Ho! i. When he had warts or burns, he went to the white witch at Northam to charm them away.
Hence White-witch v. (nonce-wd.), trans. to bewitch by ‘white magic,’ or in a beneficent way.
1917. Contemp. Rev., Nov., 585. The cows were white-witched. Milk came in such abundance as no memory records.
