Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WERTH, or WORTH, n.

In names, signifies a farm, court or village, from Sax. weorthig. Lye, Dict.

WE'SIL, n. [for Weasand. Not in use.]

WEST, a.

1. Being in a line toward the point where the sunsets when in the equator; or in a looser sense, being in the region near the line of direction toward that point, either on the earth or in the heavens. This shall be your west border. Numb. xxxiv.
2. Coming or moving from the west or western region; as, a west wind.

WEST, adv.

To the western region; at the westward; more westward; as, Ireland lies west of England.

WEST, n. [Sax. west; D. and G. west; Dan. vest; Sw. vester; Fr. ouest. This word probably signifies decline or fall, or departure; as in L. occidens, and in other cases. In elements, it coincides with waste.]

1. In strictness, that point of the horizon where the sun sets at the equinox, or any point in a direct line between the spectator or other object, and that point of the horizon; or west is the intersection of the prime vertical with the horizon, on that side where the sun sets. West is directly opposite to east, and one of the cardinal points. In a less strict sense, west is the region of the hemisphere near the point where the sun sets when in the equator. Thus we say, a star sets in the west, a meteor appears in the west, a cloud rises in the west.
2. A country situated in a region toward the sun-setting, with respect to another. Thus in the United States, the inhabitants of the Atlantic states speak of the inhabitants of Ohio, Kentucky or Missouri, and call them people of the west; and formerly, the empire of Rome was called the empire of the West, in opposition to the empire of the East, the seat of which was Constantinople.

WEST, v.i.

To pass to the west; to set, as the sun. [Not in use.] – Chaucer.

WEST'ER-ING, a.

Passing to the west. [I believe not now used.] – Milton.

WEST'ER-LY, a.

1. Being toward the west; situated in the western region; as, the westerly parts of England. – Graunt.
2. Moving from the westward; as, a westerly wind.

WEST'ER-LY, adv.

Tending, going or moving toward the west; as, a man traveling westerly:

WEST'ERN, a. [west and Sax. ærn, place.]

1. Being in the west, or in the region nearly in the direction of west; being in that quarter where the sun sets; as, the western shore of France; the western ocean.
2. Moving in a line to the part where the sun sets; as, the ship makes a western course.

WEST'ING, n.

Space or distance westward; or departure; as, the westing and southing of a ship.

WEST'WARD, adv. [Sax. westweard; west and weard, L. versus.]

Toward the west; as, to ride or sail westward.

WEST'WARD-LY, adv.

In a direction toward the west; as, to pass westwardly.

WET, a. [Sax. wæt; Sw. väta, Dan. væde, moisture, Gr. ὑετος; L. udus.]

1. Containing water, as wet land, or a sod cloth; or having water or other liquid upon the surface, as a wet table. Wet implies more water or liquid than moist or humid.
2. Rainy; as, wet weather; a wet season.

WET, n.

1. Water or wetness; moisture or humidity in considerable degree. Wear thick shoes or pattens to keep your feet from the wet.
2. Rainy weather; foggy or misty weather. – Swift.

WET, v.t. [pret. and pp. wet. But wetted is sometimes used. Sax. wætan; Sw. väta; Dan. væder.]

1. To fill or moisten with water or other liquid: to sprinkle or humectate; to cause to have water or other fluid adherent to the surface; to dip or soak in liquor; as, to wet a spunge; to wet the hands; to wet cloth. Wet the thirsty earth with falling show'rs. – Milton.
2. To moisten with drink. – Walton.

WETH'ER, n. [Sax. wether or wedder. In Dan. væder is a ram.]

A ram castrated.

WET'NESS, a.

1. The state of being wet, either by being soaked or filled with liquor, or by having a liquid adherent to the surface; as, the wetness of land; the wetness of a cloth. It implies more water or liquid than humidness or moisture.
2. A watery or moist state of the atmosphere; a state of being rainy, foggy, or misty; as, the wetness of weather or the season.

WET'TISH, a.

Somewhat wet; moist; humid.

WEX, v.t. [or v. i.]

To grow; to wax. [Not to be used.] [See War.]

WE'ZAND, n. [for Weasand. See the latter.]

WHACK, v.t. [Note. – In words beginning with wh, the letter h, or aspirate, when both letters are pronounced, precedes the sound of w. Thus what, when, are pronounced hwat, hwen. So they were written by our ancestors, and so they ought to be written still, as they are by the Danes and Swedes.]

To strike. This is probably the primary word on which is formed thwack. [See Twit.] Whack is a vulgar word.

WHALE, n. [Sax. hwal, hwæl; G. wallfisch, from wallen, to: stir agitate, or rove; D. walvisch; Sw. and Dan. hval. This animal is named from roundness, or from rolling; for in Dan. hvalt is arched or vaulted; hvæller, to arch or vault, D. welven.]

The general name of an order of animals inhabiting the ocean, arranged in zoology under the name of Cete or Cetaceæ, and belonging to the class Mammalia, in the Linnæan system. The Greenland whale is of the genus Balæna. It is the largest animal of which we have any account, and probably the largest in the world. It is sometimes sixty feet in length in the northern seas, and in the torrid zone much larger. The whale furnishes us with oil, whalebone, &c. [See Cachalot.]

WHALE'-BONE, n. [whale and bone.]

A firm elastic substance taken from the upper jaw of the whale, used as a, stiffening in stays, fans, screens, &c.

WHALE'-FISH-ER-Y, n.

The fishery or occupation of taking whales.