witch's milk

English

Etymology

From the belief in European folklore that such milk was a source of nourishment for witches' familiars.

Noun

witch's milk (uncountable)

1. Milk secreted from the breasts of newborn babies.
   • 2005, Judith Lauwers, Anna Swisher, Counseling the Nursing Mother: A Lactation Consultant's Guide, Jones & Bartlett Learning, →ISBN, page 119:

     Left alone, witch's milk disappears in about 20 days.

Synonyms

• neonatal milk

Translations

milk secreted from the breasts of newborn babies

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 巫乳 (mou⁴ jyu⁵)

• Danish: heksemælk (da) c
• Dutch: heksenmelk (nl) m
• German: Hexenmilch (de) f
• Japanese: 魔乳 (ja) (まにゅう, manyū), 鬼乳, 奇乳 (きにゅう, kinyū)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: heksemelk m or f

  Nynorsk: heksemjølk f

• Swedish: häxmjölk (sv) c