Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

hex

/ˈhɛks/ noun

In Latin: exsecror, imprecor, dētestor First recorded: 1830 Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about hex at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

An evil spell.
a witch put a curse on his whole family

verb

Cast a spell over someone or something; put a hex on someone or something.

adjective

Of or pertaining to a number system having 16 as its base.

Origin

First attested about 1830, from Pennsylvania German hexe (“to practice witchcraft”), from German hexen (compare Hexe (“witch”)). The noun appeared later, in the 1850s. Cognate to Norwegian Bokmål heks (“witch”) and Dutch heks (“witch”), Dutch beheksen (“to bewitch”), Old English hægtesse (“witch, hag”). Doublet of hag.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word