Definition
"Magig" is an archaic term appearing in early English statutes as a synonym for witchcraft and sorcery. It does not function as an independent legal concept with operative elements; rather, it is a statutory label used to identify conduct subject to criminal prohibition under English law during the period when witchcraft prosecutions were legally sanctioned.
The term is best understood as a variant spelling or scribal form encountered in historical statutory texts, not as a term of art with independent doctrinal content.
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Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): No entry exists for "magig" as a standard English word. The recognizable cognate is "magic," defined as the use of supernatural means to influence events or produce effects beyond natural human ability.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Webster's does not list "magig" as a headword. "Magic" is defined as the art of producing effects beyond natural human power through the assistance of supernatural beings or by command over occult forces.
The gap between common and legal usage here is narrow but specific: the legal term "magig" is not a general reference to illusion or conjuring performance. In its statutory context it carried criminal weight, designating conduct prosecuted under English witchcraft statutes. The modern association of "magic" with stage entertainment is entirely absent from its historical legal meaning.
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Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering "magig" in historical sources should treat it as a paleographic or orthographic variant rather than a distinct legal term. Early printed English statutes and their transcriptions frequently show inconsistent spelling, and "magig" likely reflects either a compositor's error or period-variant orthography for "magic" or "magick."
The substantive law behind this label matters more than the label itself. English witchcraft statutes — most notably the Witchcraft Act of 1542 (33 Hen. 8, c. 8), the Act of 1563 (5 Eliz. c. 16), and the Witchcraft Act of 1604 (1 Jac. 1, c. 12) — used overlapping vocabulary including witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment, conjuration, and magic interchangeably. Researchers should not expect consistent statutory terminology across these enactments.
A critical trap in historical sources: Black's 2nd Edition's entry is brief and does not situate the term within the witchcraft statute framework. A researcher relying solely on Black's will know only that the term appears in "English statutes" without knowing which statutes, which period, or what consequences attached. Cross-referencing primary sources and treatises on English criminal law history is essential for any substantive research.
The term has no meaningful survival in modern law. The Witchcraft Act of 1736 (9 Geo. 2, c. 5) repealed the earlier statutes and shifted the offense from actual witchcraft to fraudulent pretense of witchcraft — a significant doctrinal shift. "Magig" as a statutory term effectively disappears from legal usage after this period.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) provides the only entry in the Law Mind corpus: "In English statutes. Witchcraft and sorcery." This is accurate as far as it goes but offers no further context. The entry is purely definitional and does not identify which statutes employed the term, what penalties attached, or how courts interpreted it.
No other shelf sources in the Law Mind corpus contain entries for this term, which itself reflects the term's marginal status — it is a historical statutory artifact rather than a doctrinally developed legal concept. Researchers should not expect richer treatment in standard legal dictionaries of any era.
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Jurisdictional Note
This term is English in origin and has no recognized counterpart in American statutory law. Colonial and early American law addressed witchcraft through common law and local statute, but "magig" as a labeled statutory term did not carry into American legal usage.
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