Witch vs Hag - What's the difference?

As nouns the difference between witch and hag

is that witch is a person who practices witchcraft; specifically while hag is a witch, sorceress, or enchantress; a wizard.

As verbs the difference between witch and hag

is that witch is to practise witchcraft while hag is to harass; to weary with vexation.

witch

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) wicche, from (etyl) .

Noun

(es)

A person who practices witchcraft; specifically:

#A woman who is learned in and actively practices witchcraft.

#*(rfdate) Shakespeare:

#*:He cannot abide the old woman of Brentford; he swears she's a witch .

#(label) A Wiccan.

# A man who practices witchcraft.

#*:

#*:Some of the kynges had merueyl of Merlyns wordes and demed well that it shold be as he said / And som of hem lough hym to scorne / as kyng Lot / and mo other called hym a wytche / But thenne were they accorded with Merlyn that kynge Arthur shold come oute and speke with the kynges

#*(rfdate) Wyclif Bible (Acts viii. 9)

#*:There was a man in that city whose name was Simon, a witch .

(label) An ugly or unpleasant woman.

:(Shakespeare)

One who exercises more-than-common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person.

One given to mischief, especially a woman or child.

(label) A certain curve of the third order, described by Maria Agnesi under the name versiera .

The stormy petrel.

Any of a number of flatfish:

# (Torbay sole), found in the North Atlantic.

# (megrim), found in the North Atlantic.

#, found near New Zealand.

Synonyms

* (female magic user) wizardess, sorceress * (male magic user) wizard, sorcerer, warlock * (an ugly or unpleasant woman) See ,

Derived terms

(terms derived from witch) * bewitch * cold as a witch's tit * man-witch * nonwitch * witch ball * witchcraft * witch doctor * witches' brew * witches' knickers * witches' Sabbath * witchfinder * witch grass * witch hazel * witch-hunt * witching hour * witchy

External links

* (projectlink) * (Arnoglossus scapha) * (Arnoglossus scapha)

Verb

(es)

(obsolete) To practise witchcraft

'It approaches the witching hour'.

To bewitch

To dowse for water

Derived terms

* witcher

Etymology 2

Compare wick.

Noun

(es)

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

English terms with homophones

hag

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) hagge, hegge 'demon, old woman', shortening of (etyl) '', ).1987, E. C. Polomé, R. Bergmann (editor), "Althochdeutsch ''hag(a)zussa'' 'Hexe': Versuch einer neuen Etymologie", ''Althochdeutsch 2 (Wörter und Namen. Forschungsgeschichte) , pages 1107-1112.

Noun

(en noun)

A witch, sorceress, or enchantress; a wizard.

* (rfdate) Golding

[Silenus] that old hag .

(pejorative) An ugly old woman.

A fury; a she-monster.

(Crashaw)

A hagfish; an eel-like marine marsipobranch, , allied to the lamprey, with a suctorial mouth, labial appendages, and a single pair of gill openings.

A hagdon or shearwater.

An appearance of light and fire on a horse's mane or a man's hair.

(Blount)

The fruit of the hagberry, Prunus padus .

Synonyms

* (witch or sorceress) * (ugly old woman) See also * (fury or she-monster) * (eel-like marine marsipobranch) borer, hagfish, sleepmarken, slime eel, sucker * (hagdon or shearwater) * (appearance of light and fire on mane or hair) * (fruit of the hagberry)

Derived terms

* fag hag

Verb

(hagg)

To harass; to weary with vexation.

* L'Estrange

How are superstitious men hagged out of their wits with the fancy of omens.

Etymology 2

Scots ; compare English hack.

Noun

(en noun)

A small wood, or part of a wood or copse, which is marked off or enclosed for felling, or which has been felled.

* Fairfax

This said, he led me over hoults and hags ; / Through thorns and bushes scant my legs I drew.

A quagmire; mossy ground where peat or turf has been cut.

(Dugdale)

References

(Webster 1913)

Anagrams

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