Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Dictionary: WIDOW-BENCH – WIG'WAM
a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | t | u | v | w | x | y | z |
1234567891011121314151617181920
2122232425262728293031323334353637383940
4142434445464748495051525354555657585960
6162636465666768697071727374757677787980
WIDOW-BENCH, n. [widow and bench.]
In Sussex, that share which a widow is allowed of her husband's estate, besides her jointure. Cyc.
WIDOW-ED, pp.
- Bereaved of a husband by death.
- Deprived of some good; stripped. Trees of their shrivel'd fruits Are widow'd. Philips.
WIDOW-ER, n.
A man who has lost his wife by death.
WIDOW-HOOD, n.
- The state of being a widow.
- Estate settled on a widow. [Not in use.] Shak.
WIDOW-HUNT-ER, n. [widow and hunter.]
One who seeks or courts widows for a jointure or fortune. Addison.
WIDOW-ING, ppr.
Bereaving of a husband; depriving; stripping.
WID'OW-MAK-ER, n. [widow and maker.]
One who makes widows by destroying lives. Shak.
WID'OW-WAIL, n.
In botany, a plant of the genus Cneorum. Lee..
WIDTH, n. [from wide; G. weik; D. wydte.]
Breadth; wideness; the extent of a thing from side to side; as, the width of cloth; the width of a door. Dryden.
WIELD, v.t. [Sax. wealdan, walden; Goth. ga-waldan, to is govern; wald, power, dominion; Dan. wade, power; gevalt, force, authority; Sw. valde, power; allied to L valeo, Eng. well. The primary sense of power and strength is to stretch or strain. This seems to be the Russ. vladyu, to rule, and mild or vlad, in names, as Waldemir, Vlademir.]
- To use with full command or power, as a thing not too heavy for the holder; to manage; as, to wield a sword; to wield the scepter. Part wield their arms, part curb the foaming steed. Milton.
- To use or employ with the hand. Nothing but the influence of a civilized power could induce a savage to wield a spade. S. S. Smith.
- To handle; in an ironical sense. Base Hungarian wight, wilt thou the spigot wield? Shak. To wield the scepter, to govern with supreme command.
WIELD-ED, pp.
Used with command; managed. win
WIELD-ING, ppr.
Using with power; managing.
WIELD-LESS, a.
Unmanageable. Spenser.
WIELD-Y, a.
That may be wielded; manageable.
WI'ER-Y, a. [from wire.]
- Made of wire; having the properties of wire. It would be better written Wiry.
- [Sax. waer, a pool.] Wet; marshy. [Not in use.] Shak.
WIFE, n. plur.
- Wives. [Sax. unf; Ant.; G. weib, woman.]
- The lawful consort of a man; a woman who is united to a man in the lawful bonds of wedlock; the correlative of husband. The husband of one wife. 1 Tim. iii. Let every one of you in particular, so love his wife even as himself, and let the wife see that she reverence her husband. Eph. v.
- A woman of low employment; as, strawberry wives. [Not in use.] Shak.
WIFE-HOOD, n.
State and character of a wife. Beaumont & Fletcher.
WIFE-LESS, a.
Without a wife; unmarried. Chaucer.
WIG,
in Saxon, signifies war. It is found in some names.
WIG, n. [G. week, wig, and week-butter, roll butter. It would It seem that the sense is a roll or twist interwoven.]
- A covering for the head, consisting of hair interwoven or united by a kind of net-work, formerly much worn by men.
- A sort of cake. [Obs.] Ainsworth.
See WIDGEON.
WIGHT, a. [Sax. hive.]
Swift; nimble. [Obs.] Spenser. [This seems to be a dialectical form of quick]
WIGHT, n. [Sax. wild, G. wicht, a living being, Goth. waiht; L. victum, from vivo, to live, originally vigo or vico, and probably allied to vigeo. This, in the Celtic form, would be quic or qwig, Eng, quick, alive; and hence L. qui, qua, quid, quod, contracted from nic, quieed, quoced; Scot. quhat. y The letter h, in the Gothic and Scotish, representing the c of the Latin, proves the word to be thus contracted.]
A being; a person. It is obsolete, except in irony or burlesque. [See Aught.] The 'sight of all the world who lov'd thee best. Dryden.
WIGHT-LY, adv.
Swiftly; nimbly. [Obs.] Spenser.
WIG'WAM, n.
An Indian cabin or hut, so called in America. It: is sometimes written iceekiram. Mackenzie writes the Knisteneaux word, wigwaum, and the Algonquin, wiguiwaum. Query, is this the L virus? Vic in Roman was pronounced wic or week. These words may have been derived from one primitive root.