withershins
\ WITH-er-shinz \ , adverb;
1.Chiefly Scot . in a direction contrary to the natural one, especially contrary to the apparent course of the sun or counterclockwise: considered as unlucky or causing disaster. Also, widdershins .
Quotes:
There, as the moon rises, walk three times withershins round the riven trunk, and cast the broth on the ground before her.
-- Walter Douglas Campbell, "Beyond the Border" , 1898
To move against the sun was improper and productive of evil consequences, and the name given to this direction of movement was withershins .
-- James Napier, "Folk lore: or, Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland Within This Century" , 1879
Origin:
Withershins comes from the Middle High German wider meaning "against; opposite" and sin "way; course." It entered English in the early 1500s.
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