Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WELL-WISH'ER, n. [supra.]

One who wishes the good of another. – Addison.

WELSH, a. [Sax. weallisc, from wealh, a foreigner; weallian, to wander; G. wälsch, foreign, strange, Celtic, Welsh; Walsche sprache, the Italian language, that is, foreign, or Celtic.]

Pertaining to the Welsh nation.

WELSH, n.

1. The language of Wales or of the Welsh.
2. The general name of the inhabitants of Wales. The word signifies foreigners or wanderers, and was given to this people by other nations, probably because they came from some distant country. The Welsh call themselves Cymry, in the plural, and a Welshman Cymro, and their country Cymru, of which the adjective is Cymreig, and the name of their language, Cymraeg. They are supposed to be from the Cimbri of Jutland. – Owen.

WELT, n. [W. gwald, from gwal, a fence, a wall; gwaliaw, to inclose; gwaldu, to hem. See Wall.]

A border; a kind of hem or edging, as on a garment or piece of cloth, or on a shoe. – Bacon.

WELT, v.t.

To furnish with a welt; to sew on a border.

WEL'TER, v.i. [Sax. wæltan; Sw. vältra; G. walzen; Dan. vælter; allied probably to wallow, L. voluto.]

To roll, as the body of animal; but usually, to roll or wallow in some foul matter; as, to welter in blood or in filth. – Dryden.

WEL'TER-ING, ppr.

Rolling; wallowing; as in mire, blood, or other filthy matter.

WEM, n. [Sax.]

A spot; a scar. [Obs.] – Brerewood.

WEM, v.t. [Sax. wemman.]

To corrupt. [Obs.]

WEN, n. [Sax. wenn; D. wen; Arm. guennaen, a wart.]

An encysted tumor which is movable, pulpy, and often elastic to the touch.

WENCH, a. [Sax. wencle. Qu. G. wenig, little.]

1. A young woman. [Little used.] – Sidney. Donne.
2. A young woman of ill fame. – Prior.
3. In America, a black or colored female servant; a negress.

WENCH, v.i.

To frequent the company of women of ill fame. – Addison.

WENCH'ER, n.

A lewd man. – Grew.

WENCH'ING, ppr.

Frequenting women of ill fame.

WEND, v.i. [Sax. wendan.]

1. To go; to pass to or from.
2. To turn round. [Obs.] [Wend and wind are from the same root.]

WEN'NEL, n.

A weanel. [See Weanel.] [Obs.]

WEN'NISH, or WEN'NY, a. [from wen.]

Having the nature of a wen.

WENT, v. [pret. of the verb Wend.]

We now arrange went in grammar as the preterit of go, but in origin it has no connection with it.

WEPT, v. [pret. and pp. of Weep.]

When he had come near, he beheld the city and wept over it. Luke xix.

WERE, n.

A dam. [See Wear.]

WERE, v. [pron. wer, which when prolonged, becomes ware.]

This is used as the imperfect tense plural of be; we were, you were, they were; and in some other tenses. It is the Danish verb værer, to be, to exist, Sw. vara, and in origin has no connection with be, nor with was. It is united with be, to supply its want of tenses, as went is with go.

WER'E-GILD, n. [Sax. wer, man, and the estimated value of a man, and gild, geld, money.]

Formerly, the price of a man's head; compensation paid for a man killed, partly to the king for the loss of a subject, and partly to the lord of the vassal, and partly to the next of kin. It was paid by the murderer. – Blackstone.

WER-NE'RI-AN, a.

Pertaining to Werner, the German mineralogist, who arranged minerals in classes, &c., according to their external characters.

WER'NER-ITE, n.

A mineral, regarded by Werner as subspecies of scapolite; called foliated scapolite. It is named from that distinguished mineralogist, Werner. It is found massive, and crystalized in octahedral prisms with four-sided pyramidical terminations, disseminated in rocks of grayish or red feldspar. It is imperfectly lamellar, of a greenish, grayish, or olive green color, with a pearly or resinous luster. It is softer than feldspar, and melts into a white enamel.

WERT, v.

The second person singular of the subjunctive imperfect tense of be. [See Were.]