bewitch
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English bewicchen, bewycchen, biwicchen, equivalent to be- + witch.
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
bewitch (third-person singular simple present bewitches, present participle bewitching, simple past and past participle bewitched)
- (transitive) To cast a spell upon.
- 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter II, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 10:
- Afterwards Jim said the witches bewitched him and put him in a trance, […]
- 1901, Andrew Lang, “The Fairy of the Dawn”, in The Violet Fairy Book[1]:
- But above all beware never to look the Fairy of the Dawn in the face, for she has eyes that will bewitch you, and glances that will befool you.
- (transitive) To fascinate or charm.
- Synonym: forspeak (obsolete)
- I was bewitched by the sight of the girl dancing in the forest.
- (transitive) To astonish, amaze. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to cast a spell upon
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Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *weyk- (separate)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms prefixed with be-
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪtʃ
- Rhymes:English/ɪtʃ/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
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- en:Occult