| Etymology: [ wich ] (noun.) before 12th century. Old English wiċċe (“sorceress, witch”) and wicca (“wizard, sorcerer, warlock”), from Proto-Germanic *wikkēn, *wikkō(n) 'necromancer, waker of the dead' (compare West Frisian wikke 'witch', Low German wikken, wicken 'to use witchcraft', Old High German wīhan (“to consecrate”), Old English wiġle 'divination'), from Proto-Indo-European *weik- 'to choose, sacrifice, conjure'; akin to Latin victima 'sacrificial victim', Lithuanian viekas 'life-force', Sanskrit vinákti 'to sift, separate out'. |
