Dictionary

archwitch en · NOUN

Etymology

From arch- + witch.

Meanings

1. A very powerful witch.
   • The poetic basis of this composition is the Russian legend that on the night of Ivan Koupalo the archwitch, Baba-Yaga, with sorcerers and sorceresses, comes to the Bald (or Bare) Mountain to celebrate the witches’ Sabbath. 1954, Donald N. Ferguson, Masterworks of the Orchestral Repertoire: A Guide for Listeners, published 1968, page 381:
   • And it was strange that these two archwitches should slumber when the whole world of shadows was astir. 1907, William McChesney Martin, Shoes of Iron: A Tale of Witch Town, Mayhew Publishing Co., page 183:
   • Others, like the archwitch Kálarátri or “black night,” are of repulsive appearance; she has dull eyes, a depressed flat nose; […] 1894, William Crooke, An Introduction to the Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India, Allahabad: […] the Government Press, […], page 350:

Forms