Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Dictionary: WHY – WIDOW
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WHY, adv. [Sax. hin, and for hwi, or for hang, for why. whig, coincides in elements with which. So pourp. in French, is the same; paur and L. quid, quad; for what. The original phrase is for what, for why.]
- For what cause or reason, interrogatively. Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die? Jer. xxvii.
- For which reason or cause, relatively. No ground of enmity, Why he should mean me ill.
- For what reason or cause; for which; relatively. Turn the discourse; I have a reason why I would not have you speak so tenderly. Dryden.
- It is used sometimes emphatically, or rather as en expletive. If her chill heart I can not move, Why, I'll enjoy the very love. Cowley.
WI,
from the Gothic weiha, signifies holy. It is found in some names, as in Wibert, holy-bright, or bright-holy, eminent for sanctity; Dan. vier, to consecrate, Sw. viga.
a termination, denotes jurisdiction, as in bailiwick. Its primary sense is a village or mansion, L. vicus; Sax. wic or wyc; hence it occurs in Berwick, Harwich, Norwich, &c. It signifies also a bay or a castle. Gibson.
WICK, n. [Sax. wroe; Sw. veke, a wick or match; Ir. buaie, Qu. from twisting.]
A number of threads of cotton or some similar substance, loosely twisted into a string, round which wax or tallow is applied by means of melting and running in a mold, and thus forming a candle or torch.
WICK'ED, a. [Sw. vika, to decline, to err, to deviate, also to fald; Sax. wican, to recede, to slide, to fall away; wicelien, to vacillate, to stumble. It seems to be connected in origin with wag, and Sax. wicca, witch. The primary sense is to wind and turn, or to depart, to fall away.]
- Evil in principle or practice; deviating from the divine law; addicted to vice; sinful; immoral. This is a word of comprehensive signification, extending to every thing that is contrary to the moral law, and both to persons and nations. We say, a wicked man, a wicked deed, wicked ways, wicked lives, a wicked heart, wicked designs, wicked works. No man was ever wicked without secret discontent. Rambler.
- A word of slight blame; as, the wicked urchin.
- Cursed; baneful; pernicious; as, wicked words, worth pernicious in their effects. [Obs.] [This last signification may throw some light on the ward witch.] The wicked, in Scripture, persons who live in sin; transgressors of the divine law; all who are unreconciled to God, un. sanctified or impenitent.
WICK'ED-LY, adv.
In a manner or with motives and de signs contrary to the divine law; viciously; corruptly immorally. All that do wickedly shall be stubble. Mal. iv. I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. 2 Sam. xxiv.
WICKED-NESS, n.
Departure from the rules of the divine law; evil disposition or practices; immorality; crime; sin sinfulness; corrupt manners. Wickedness generally signifies evil practices. What wickedness is this that is done among you. Judge xx. But wickedness expresses also the corrupt dispositions o the heart. Their inward part is very, wickedness. Ps. v. In heart, ye work wickedness. Ps. lviii.
The Swim's aucuparia, mountain ash, or roan-tree. Lee.
WICK'ER, a. [Dan. vien, probably contracted from viva The Eng. [wig, G. twig, D. twyg, are probably formed oi .the simple word wig, from the root of L. vigeo, to grow The word signifies a shoot.]
Made of twigs or osiers; as, a wicker basket; a wicker chair. Spenser. Peach.
WICK'ET, n. [Fr. guichet; W. gwiced, a little door, fror gwig, a narrow place, a corner.]
- A small gate. The wicket, often open'd, knew the key. Dryden.
- A small gate by which the chamber of canal locks emptied.
- A bar or rod used in playing cricket.
WIC'LIF-ITE, n.
A follower of Wieli4 the English re former.
WIDE, a. [Sax. wid, wide; D. wyd; G. weit; Sw. and Dan. vid; Sans. vidi, breadth; Ar. {foreign} badda, to separate; allie, to void, divide, widow, Ir. jeadh, 87.c. See Class Bd, No. I.]
- Broad; having a great or considerable distance or eater between the sides; opposed to narrow; as, wide cloth; wide table; a wide highway; a wide bed; a wide hall of entry. In this use, wide is distinguished from long, whit refers to the extent or distance between the ends.
- Broad; having a great extent each way; as, a wide plain the wide ocean.
- Remote; distant. This position is very wide from th truth. Hammond.
- Broad to a certain degree; as, three feet wide.
WIDE, adv.
- At a distance; far. His fame was spread wide.
- With great extent; used chiefly in composition; as, wid skirted meads; wide-waving swords; wide-wasting pestilence; wide-spreading evil.
WIDE-BRANCH-ED, a.
Having spreading branches.
WIDE-LY, adv.
- With great extent each way. The Cu was widely disseminated by the apostles.
- Very much; to a great distance; far. We differ widely in opinion.
WID-EN, v.
To grow wide or wider; to enlarge; to extend itself. And arches widen, and long aisles extend. Pope.
WID-EN, v.t.
To make wide or wider; to extend in breadth as, to widen a field; to widen a breach. Note. In America, females say, to widen a stocking.
WID-EN-ED, pp.
Made wide or wider; extended in breadth.
WIDE-NESS, n.
- Breadth; width; great extent between the sides; as, the wideness of a room.
- Large extent in all directions; as, the wideness of the sea or ocean.
WID-EN-ING, ppr.
Extending the distance between the sides; enlarging in all directions.
WIDE-SPREAD, a.
Extending far.
WIDE-SPREAD-ING, a.
Spreading to a great extent distance.
WID'GEON, n.
A fowl of the duck kind, or genus Anas, having a black bill, the head and upper part of the neck of a bright bay, the back and sides waved with black and white, and the belly white. Dict. Nat. Hist.
WID'OW, n. [Sax. widem; G. wiltwe; D. weduwe; Dan. tidue; L. vidua; Fr. reuve; lt. vedova; Sp. viuda; Sans. widhava; Russ. vdova; from the root of wide, void. See Wide.]
A woman who has lost her husband by death. Luke ii. Widow's chamber, in London, the apparel and furniture of the bed-chamber of the widow of a freeman, to which she is entitled. Cyc.
WIDOW, v.t.
- To bereave of a husband; but rarely used except in the participle. Dryden.
- To endow with a widow's right. [Unusual.]
- To strip of any thing good. Shak. The widow'd isle in mourning. Dryden.