witching
adj/ˈwɪt͡ʃɪŋ/
Etymology From Middle English wicching, wicchand, equivalent to witch + -ing.
1
Of or pertaining to witchcraft or sorcery, or to witches or sorcerers.
- 'Tis the witching time of night, / Orbed is the moon and bright, / And the Stars they glisten, glisten, / Seeming with bright eyes to listen.a. 1822 (date written), John Keats, “[Supplementary Verses.] A Prophecy: To George Keats in America.”, in [Horace Elisha Scudder], editor, The Complete Poetical Works and Letters of John Keats, Cambridge edition, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], published 1899, →OCLC, page 249, column 1:
2
Of a person: having the power to bewitch someone or something.
3
Archaic Bewitching, enchanting.
- But who is this witching beauty by his side, who would fain impress you with a belief that that mischief which will not remain concealed for the briefest period, is not her entire composition?1859, Ferna Vale, Natalie; or, A Gem Among the Sea-Weeds:
- Derived terms
- triple witching hour, witching hour