Emily Dickinson Lexicon

wedlock, n. [OE wed, pledge + lác, action.] (webplay: marriage).

1. Marriage; matrimony; formal wedding ceremony; opportunity to be a bride.
2. Union; marital contract; marriage until death; [fig.] covenant by human authority (see Isaiah 54:5).

Wednesday, proper adj. [OE 'day of Woden, chief Teutonic god'; calque translation of L. 'day of Mercury'.]

Mid-week day; fourth day of seven in the week; school day that has afternoon recess in England and New England; [fig] middling; mundane; average.

weed (-s), n. [OE wéod.] (webplay: away, take).

1. Flora; herb; vegetation; plant life; [fig.] overgrown grass; neglected sod on a grave plot.
2. Seaweed; algae; ocean plants; wild growth in salt water.
3. Undesirable plant; wild growth; botanical stranger.

week (-s), n. [OE wice, corresponds to OFris wike.] (webplay: days, space).

1. Seven-day unit in the calendar before the present quarter of the month.
2. Time period of seven days.
3. Phrase. “Valentine week”: February 10-16, 1850; seven-day period including February 14^th, 1850.

weep (wept), v. [OE wépan.] (webplay: joy, kiss, laughter, sorrow, tears, trees).

1. Grieve; lament; keen; cry aloud for sadness; express sorrow vocally; show grief with tears; bemoan the death of a loved one.
2. Cry; sob; shed tears; exude fluid from the eyes to show sadness.
3. Feel deep emotion; experience an overwhelming sense of longing.
4. Cry for joy; shed tears for happiness; spontaneously exude fluid from the eyes because of delight, beauty, tenderness, sensitivity, etc.

weeping, verbal adj. [see weep, v.]

Crying; tearing; watering.

weigh (-ed, -s, -eth), v. [OE wegan, corresponds to OFris wega, weia, to move, weigh.] (webplay: anchor, balance, bear, bosom, consider, heart, heavier, lighter, mind, notice, ponder, pounds, price, speaketh, wool, worthy).

1. Look; seem; visually appear; [fig.] frown; pull down.
2. Be considered; be deliberated; be turned over.
3. Ponder; consider carefully; pause before speaking; delay before expressing an opinion.
4. Oppress; feel heavy; be a burden; seem hard to bear.
5. Examine; experience; study; comprehend; understand; be ready to experience.

weight (-s), n. [OE wiht, OFris wicht.] (webplay: grief, hundred, ponderous, pound, power, quantity).

1. Burden; fardel; heavy load; [fig.] deep sorrow; encumbering pain.
2. Crucifixion; excruciating torture; pressure of hanging; agony of hanging on the cross; [fig.] tremendous responsibility of bearing the sins, pains, and sorrows of all beings.
3. Body; physical presence; [fig.] life; essence; mortal being; corporeal reality.
4. Plumb; anchor; lead plummet; sinking metal object; [fig.] heavy feeling due to loss of a loved one.
5. Substance; matter; dimension; mass; force; size; [fig.] existence; actuality; evidence.
6. Measure; volume; amount; specific quantity.
7. Heavy object; burdensome content.
8. Meaning; import; significance.
9. Gravity; amount of pressure that pulls an object towards the center of the earth; [fig.] heaviness of heart.

welcome, adj. [see welcome, n.]

Best; better off; received gladly; more agreeable; even more acceptable; [irony] good riddance; [word play on “well”] healthy.

welcome, n. [OE < wil will, desire, pleasure + cuma comer, guest.]

1. Recognition; acknowledgment; identification.
2. Greeting; salutation; warm reception; happy homecoming; invitation to join a company.