Witches.
It is a term mostly coined directly by women. A term that was considered negative back in the day when plagues were barely understood and people back then were desperate to find cures. Suppose plague doctors were identified back then using masks with beaks and black robes. In that case, witches are mostly described as women who wear long robes, wear long, pointy hats, are capable of using various magic, healing practices and healing magic, and can cast hexes which is one of the terms they called plagues back then when it was still barely understood.
People back then were so paranoid about the spread of plagues that when some ladies who had some knowledge regarding early apothecary techniques, they were soon hunted by townspeople for the wrong reasons, and executed for a sin they didn't commit like "they are the reason why the plague has spread" or "she was the one who made me sick" and various other pleas that if analyzed properly, are all bullsh*t and untrue.
