A curious English wordSourced
United Kingdom · English meaning
Counterclockwise, with an old-fashioned atmosphere
Widdershins means counterclockwise. The dictionary marks this sense as archaic and now chiefly associated with fantasy or witchcraft. The direction is ordinary; the word brings a different atmosphere.
A change of vocabulary can turn the same way into a storybook direction.
Summary / translation: Unbubly · CC BY-SA 4.0
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widdershins · Wikimedia contributors
Adapted, summarized and translated from the source. Adapted text is also available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Reviewed: 2026-10-09