Forms: see WITCH sb.2 [OE. wiccecræft, f. wicca, wicce WITCH sb.1 and 2 + cræft CRAFT sb.]
1. The practices of a witch or witches; the exercise of supernatural power supposed to be possessed by persons in league with the devil or evil spirits.
c. 1000. [see WITCH sb.2 1].
a. 1100. Aldhelm Gloss., I. 4055 (Napier 107/2). Necromantia, .i. demonum inuocatio, ʓaldre, wiccecræfte.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 1301. Þu yelpest of selliche wisdome; Þu nustest hwenne hit þe come Bute hit of wicchecrafte were.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 28310. I … folud wichecrafte and frete, And charmyng.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 4044. His wif with wichecraft to a wolf him schaped.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxi. (Clement), 705. He … wend [þat] he begabbit had bene Be wesch-crafte.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., V. xv. 563. Whiche sacramentis and her vsis summe of the lay peple holden to be pointis of wicche craft and blindingis.
1533. Gau, Richt Vay (S.T.S.), 12. Thay sine aganis this [first] command quhilk wsis wich craft.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., I. ii. 7. As for Witches, I think not that their witchcraft is any reall power.
1671. Salmon, Syn. Med., I. xxv. 51. The Sickness is more than natural, and Witchcraft is to be feared.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 117, ¶ 2. I cannot forbear thinking that there is such an Intercourse and Commerce with Evil Spirits, as that which we express by the Name of Witchcraft.
1769. Blackstone, Comm., IV. iv. 60. To deny the possibility, nay, actual existence, of witchcraft and sorcery, is … to contradict the revealed word of God.
a. 1862. Buckle, Misc. Wks. (1872), I. 425. There are few superstitions which have been so universal as a belief in witchcraft.
b. pl. Acts or instances of this; magic arts; also † occas. with a, a kind of magic.
c. 935. Laws of Athelstan, I. vi. We cwædon be þam wiccecræftum & be liblacum [etc.].
c. 1200. Ormin, 7077. Driȝmenn, weppmenn & wifmenn ec, Þatt follȝhenn wicche crafftess.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 268. Hit bringeð to nout alle þes deofles wieles,… his wrenchfule wicchecreftes.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVIII. lx. (Bodl. MS.). Wicches also vse þe herte and þee lyuoure of þis beeste in many wicchecraftes.
c. 1400. Apol. Loll., 93. Wit þer wichecraftis and enchauntingis.
a. 1500. Hist. K. Boccus & Sydracke (? 1510), D iv b. Us thou hast now forsakyn And to a wychcrafte the takyn.
1569. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 43. Scho will confess no wytchcreftis nor gilt.
1617. Moryson, Itin., III. 45. All these witchcrafts ceased after the comming of Christ.
1670. R. T., Opinion of Witchcraft Vind., 43. Killing of Men or Beasts by Witchcrafts.
1767. T. Hutchinson, Hist. Mass., II. i. 49. Commissioners … were appointed for the trial of witchcrafts.
2. fig. Power or influence like that of a magician; bewitching or fascinating attraction or charm.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., V. ii. 301. You haue Witch-craft in your Lippes, Kate. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., III. ii. 18. He hath a Witchcraft Ouer the King in’s Tongue.
1647. Cowley, Mistr., Vain Love, 1. What new-found Witchcraft was in thee, With thine own Cold to kindle Me?
a. 1674. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., x. § 126. Whether the raising this spirit [of the Levellers] was a piece of Cromwell’s ordinary witchcraft, in order to some of his designs, or whether [etc.].
1747. Richardson, Clarissa, I. viii. 47. I tell you, I see thro’ your witchcrafts—that was her strange word.
1818. Shelley, Rosal. & Helen, 652. The subtle witchcraft of his tongue Unlocked the hearts of those who keep Gold.
1844. Kinglake, Eöthen, iii. By some unfailing witchcraft she [sc. the sea] entices the breezes to follow her.
3. attrib. and Comb.
1654. R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 265. His Blindnesse and Infidelity betrayeth him to this Stupidity, and Witchcraft-adhæsion to the Creature.
1796. G. M. Woodward, Eccentric Excurs., 135. Among the most approved witchcraft remedies, we find nailing horse shoes at the thresholds of doors.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), XVIII. 877/1. The latest witchcraft frenzy was in New England, about 1692.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 452. Human sacrifice is very rare in Congo Français, the killing of people being nine times in ten a witchcraft palaver.
Hence † Witchcraftical a. (nonce-wd.).
1676. Doctrine of Devils, 84. Away with witchcraftical Doctors, away with the doctrine of Devils.
