different between pagan vs witch

English

Etymology

Recorded in English since about 1375. Borrowed from Latin p?g?nus (“rural, rustic”), later "civilian". The meaning "not (Judeo-)Christian" arose in Vulgar Latin, probably from the 4th century. It is unclear whether this usage is derived primarily from the "rustic" or from the "civilian" meaning, which in Roman army jargon meant 'clumsy'. As a self-designation of neopagans attested since 1990.

Pronunciation

• enPR: p?'g?n, IPA^(key): /?pe???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Adjective

pagan (not comparable)

1. Relating to, characteristic of religions that differ from main world religions.

   Many converted societies transformed their pagan deities into saints.

2. (by extension, derogatory) Savage, immoral, uncivilized, wild.

Usage notes

• When referring to modern paganism, the term is now often capitalized, like other terms referring to religions.

Synonyms

• (adhering to a non-main world religion): heathen
• (uncivilized): barbarian, barbaric (pejorative)

Antonyms

• (religion):

Hyponyms

• pantheistic
• neo-pagan

Derived terms

• paganism
• neopagan
• paganly

Translations

Noun

pagan (plural pagans)

1. A person not adhering to a main world religion; a follower of a pantheistic or nature-worshipping religion.

   This community has a surprising number of pagans.

2. (by extension, derogatory) An uncivilized or unsocialized person.
3. (by extension, derogatory) An unruly, badly educated child.

Synonyms

• (heathen): paynim
• (uncivilised): philistine, savage
• (child): brat

Derived terms

• neo-pagan

Related terms

• peasant
• paynim

Translations

See also

• heretic
• infidel

References

Anagrams

• panga

Asturian

Verb

pagan

1. third-person plural present subjunctive of pagar

Cebuano

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pa?gan

Verb

pagan

1. to embroil; to draw into a situation; to cause to be involved
2. to implicate; to connect or involve in an unfavorable or criminal way with something
3. to fall victim to a friendly fire
4. (military) to fall victim as collateral damage
5. to be hit by a stray bullet
6. to get caught in a crossfire
7. (games, of marbles) to hit the adjacent marble with the target marble

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:pagan.

Estonian

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin paganus, through either Old East Slavic ?????? (pogan?) or directly from Latin, through the German crusaders. Cognate to Finnish pakana.

Noun

pagan (genitive pagana, partitive paganat)

1. pagan, heathen
2. a devil, an evil spirit

Declension

Derived terms

• vanapagan

Interjection

pagan

1. damn, darn, heck

Galician

Verb

pagan

1. third-person plural present indicative of pagar

Old High German

Verb

p?gan

1. (Bavaria) Alternative form of b?gan

Spanish

Verb

pagan

1. Second-person plural (ustedes) present indicative form of pagar.
2. Third-person plural (ellos, ellas, also used with ustedes^?) present indicative form of pagar.

Volapük

Etymology

From pag (“paganism”) +? -an.

Noun

pagan (nominative plural pagans)

1. (Volapük Nulik) pagan, gentile

Declension

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?ch, IPA^(key): /w?t?/
• Rhymes: -?t?
• Homophone: which (in accents with the wine-whine merger), wich, wych

Etymology 1

From Middle English wicche, from Old English wi??e (“witch (female), sorceress”) and wi??a (“witch (male), sorcerer, warlock”), deverbative from wi??ian (“to practice sorcery”), from Proto-Germanic *wikk?n? (compare West Frisian wikje, wikke (“to foretell, warn”), German Low German wicken (“to soothsay”), Dutch wikken, wichelen (“to dowse, divine”)), from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh?-, derivation of *weyk- (“to consecrate; separate”); akin to Latin victima (“sacrificial victim”), Lithuanian vi?kas (“life-force”), Sanskrit ??????? (vinákti, “to set apart, separate out”).

Noun

witch (plural witches)

1. A person who practices witchcraft.
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:witch.
   1. (now usually particularly) A woman who is learned in and actively practices witchcraft.
2. (derogatory) An ugly or unpleasant woman.

3. One who exercises more-than-common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person.
4. One given to mischief, especially a woman or child.
5. (geometry) A certain curve of the third order, described by Maria Agnesi under the name versiera.
6. The stormy petrel.
7. Any of a number of flatfish:
   1. Glyptocephalus cynoglossus (Torbay sole), found in the North Atlantic.
   2. Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis (megrim), found in the North Atlantic.
   3. Arnoglossus scapha, found near New Zealand.
8. The Indomalayan butterfly Araotes lapithis, of the family Lycaenidae.

Synonyms

• (person who uses magic): See Thesaurus:magician
• (female magic user): wizardess, sorceress
• (male magic user): wizard, sorcerer, warlock
• (an ugly or unpleasant woman): See Thesaurus:old woman or Thesaurus:ugly woman or Thesaurus:shrew

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• Arnoglossus scapha on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Arnoglossus scapha on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Arnoglossus scapha on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Verb

witch (third-person singular simple present witches, present participle witching, simple past and past participle witched)

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To practise witchcraft.
2. (transitive) To bewitch.
   • 2012, Carol Berg, The Daemon Prism: A Novel of the Collegia Magica, Penguin (?ISBN)

     The little man was seething and shaking, near collapse with fear and anger. “Tell 'em, Alvy.” “A tenday ago, Will came to the Cockatoo acting crazy, so scared he'd pissed hisself. Said the sorcerer had found him in the stables and witched him.”

   • 2014, Charles L. McNichols, Crazy Weather, Counterpoint Press (?ISBN)

     “Maybe the Mormonhater witched him. There's lot of stories being told around about that old man.” “Them's lies,” denied South Boy hotly. “He may have scared Havek, but he never witched him.”

   • 2017, Benjamin R. Kracht, Kiowa Belief and Ritual, U of Nebraska Press (?ISBN), page 134:

     Sometime in 1945 he faced an opponent who apparently “witched” him, causing facial paralysis and dizzy spells that rendered him bedridden. An old Indian doctor came to his bedside, looked into his eyes, and proclaimed that he had been witched by his Seminole adversary.

3. (intransitive) To dowse for water.

Derived terms

• witcher

See also

References

Etymology 2

Compare wick.

Noun

witch (plural witches)

1. A cone of paper which is placed in a vessel of lard or other fat and used as a taper.

Scots

Alternative forms

• wutch, whitch

Etymology

From Middle English wicche, from Old English wi??e (“witch (female),sorceress”) and wi??a (“witch (male), sorcerer”) m., deverbative from wi??ian (“to practice sorcery”), from Proto-Germanic *wikk?n? (compare West Frisian wikje, wikke (“to foretell, warn”), German Low German wicken (“to soothsay”), Dutch wikken, wichelen (“to dowse, divine”)), from Proto-Indo-European *wik-néh?-, derivation of *weyk- (“to consecrate; separate”); akin to Latin victima (“sacrificial victim”), Lithuanian vi?kas (“life-force”), Sanskrit ??????? (vinákti, “to set apart, separate out”).

Noun

witch (plural witchs)

1. witch; A person, chiefly a woman, skilled in sorcery.
   1. warlock
2. (transferred) Various animals, insects and objects in some way associated with witches.
   1. A moth in general; a tortoiseshell butterfly.
   2. The pole flounder or dab, Glyptocephalus cynoglossus.
   3. The seaweed, Laminaria saccharina.
   4. A red clay marble, generally one that is considered effective in winning games, a “wizard”.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Verb

witch (third-person singular present, present participle witching, past witchit, past participle witchit)

1. (transitive) To harm (a person, etc.) by means of witchcraft; to bewitch, cast a spell on.
2. (figuratively) To affect or influence as by witchcraft.

Further reading

• “witch” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.