What does wiches mean?
Wiches is an uncommon English noun with two distinct historical uses. In its geographical sense, it is the plural of wich, a small bay, inlet, or coastal recess, and it appears especially in descriptions of coastlines and sheltered waters. In its second sense, wiches is an archaic spelling of the modern word witches, denoting female practitioners of magic or sorcery. Modern speakers normally use witches when referring to witches in folklore, fiction, or historical writing. The geographical plural is also uncommon and is likely to be encountered in literary, historical, or specialized contexts rather than everyday speech. Although wiches and witches look like simple spelling variants, the geographic noun has its own history and should not automatically be treated as a misspelling of the plural of witch.
The uncommon plural of wich, a small bay, inlet, or recess in a coastline.
"A village of fishermen occupied the sheltered wiches at the edge of the bay."
Chiefly literary, geographical, or historical; modern English normally uses the singular wich and plural wiches.
An archaic spelling of the plural of witch.
"The manuscript describes the wiches as having gathered outside the castle."
Obsolete or historical in this sense; use witches in modern English.
The standard plural of the geographical noun wich. In historical spelling, it can also represent the modern plural of witch.
"The path led through coves and wiches before reaching the open sea."
“Wiches” preserves an old spelling of “witches”—but it also names a coastal inlet.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of wiches
The form wiches arose through regular pluralization of Middle English wicche with -es. Its archaic use as the plural of witch developed from Middle English wicches, ultimately from Old English wicce, the feminine term for a witch or sorceress. The separate geographical noun wich belongs to an older Germanic lineage and developed senses including a bay or coastal recess.
Related word forms
How wiches is actually used
In modern English, witches is the ordinary plural of witch. The form wiches survives chiefly as an uncommon geographical plural or as a historical spelling found in older texts.
Easily confused with wiches
Witches is the standard modern plural of witch, whereas wiches is either the uncommon plural of the coastal noun wich or an archaic spelling of witches.