A coven usually refers to a gathering of witches. The word "coven" remained largely unused in English until 1921 when Margaret Murray promoted the idea, now much disputed, that all witches across Europe met in groups of thirteen which they called "covens."

In fantasy stories and popular culture, a coven is a gathering of witches to work spells in tandem. Such imagery can be traced back to Renaissance prints depicting witches and to the three "weird sisters" in Shakespeare's "Macbeth". Orgiastic meetings of witches are also depicted in the Robert Burns poem "Tam o' Shanter" and in the Goethe play "Faust."

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