Reclaiming the Words ‘Crone’ and ‘Witch’

Language builds the bones of our reality.

It tells us who is valued, who is dismissed, who is believed, and who is burned.

And yet, in 2025, every major English dictionary still defines crone as “an ugly old woman” and witch as “a woman thought to have evil magic powers.”

Ugly. Evil.

Those are the first words our daughters still see when they look up the words that once meant wise woman, healer, seer, boundary-keeper.

I wrote to the editors of Oxford, Cambridge, Merriam-Webster, Collins, and Dictionary.com in early October 2025, asking that they correct these entries. I heard back from two. Both replies were polite — and empty. “We’ll review it someday,” they said. “No timeline.”

That silence speaks volumes.

These institutions act as the guardians of meaning — yet they continue to fossilize the language of female hatred. When they choose to list the insulting senses of crone and witch as the primary meanings, they are not “reflecting usage.” They are shaping it. They are confirming to every reader, every schoolchild, every search result: wise women are ugly, powerful women are evil.

The Current Definitions

Oxford Languages:

Crone: “An old woman who is thin and ugly.”

Witch: “A woman thought to have evil magic powers, especially one believed to be in league with the devil.”

Merriam-Webster:

Crone: “A cruel or ugly old woman.”

Witch: “A person (especially a woman) credited with having usually malignant supernatural powers.”

Collins:

Crone: “An old woman who is thin and ugly.”

Witch: “A woman who is believed to have magic powers, especially evil ones.”

Cambridge:

Crone: “An unpleasant or ugly old woman.”

Witch: “A woman who is believed to have magical powers and who uses them to do bad or evil things.”

Dictionary.com:

Crone: “An old woman who is thin and ugly.”

Witch: “A person, now especially a woman, claiming or popularly believed to possess magical powers.” (To their credit, they include a non-evil option in later senses.)

Every single one centers ugliness and evil — as though age and power in women are things to be feared, mocked, or punished.

What These Words Actually Mean

Before the Church weaponized them, crone and witch were sacred titles.

Crone derives from carogne (Old North French), meaning carrion, wise elder, body returned to earth. She is the winter of the feminine cycle — the truth-teller, death-keeper, initiator.

Witch comes from Old English wicce/wicca, meaning to shape, to bend reality, to practice wisdom.

These are not monsters. These are teachers.

What the Definitions Should Say

Here’s what truth — and respect — could look like in a modern dictionary:

Crone (noun):

A wise elder woman; one who embodies experience, insight, and spiritual authority.

(Derogatory, historical) An insulting term once used to describe an older woman, often reflecting misogynistic bias.

Witch (noun):

A person, especially a woman, who practices or is believed to practice intuitive, spiritual, or nature-based arts of healing or transformation.

(Historical/Derogatory) A person accused of evil sorcery, often targeted in periods of fear or social control.

That’s not “political correctness.” That’s accuracy. That’s balance. That’s history restored.

Why It Matters

When we change the dictionary, we change the collective spell.

Every girl who looks up witch should see a lineage, not a curse. Every elder woman who looks up crone should see reverence, not ridicule.

Language has always been a mirror — but it can also be a wand.

If this truth speaks to you, share this piece.

Tag the major dictionaries — Oxford, Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, Collins, and Dictionary.com — wherever you post.

Or simply click “like” or leave a comment to help the message rise in the algorithmic tide.

Every echo counts. Every share helps shift the language itself.

Tell them the fire is awake.

“Truth rises in every voice that refuses silence.

Every word we reclaim becomes a spell of remembrance.”

— The Honed Crone ❤️‍🔥