welk
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English welken, probably from a continental Germanic language; compare Middle Dutch welken (Dutch welken) and Middle Low German welken. Cognate with German welken. Ultimately, from Proto-West Germanic *wilkijan (“to become soft”), from Proto-Germanic *welkaz (“soft, withered”), according to Kluge, related to *wulkną (“cloud”).
Compare also Old English wealwian (“to fade, wither”), Old English wlacu (“tepid, lukewarm”).
Verb edit
welk (third-person singular simple present welks, present participle welking, simple past and past participle welked)
- (obsolete) Of a plant: to wither, wilt, decay.
- (obsolete) To diminish; to lose brightness, to wane.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 23, page 9:
- As gentle Shepheard in ſweete euentide, / When ruddy Phebus gins to welke in weſt, [...]
- 1641 May, John Milton, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Cavvses that hitherto have Hindred it; republished as Will Taliaferro Hale, editor, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England (Yale Studies in English; LIV), New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1916, →OCLC, 2nd book, page 257:
- [T]he Church that before by inſenſible degrees welk'd and impair'd, now with large ſteps went down hill decaying; [...]
- (dialectal) to soak, steep.
- (dialectal) to thrash, beat severely.
- To contract; to shorten.
- 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Nouember. Aegloga Vndecima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC; reprinted as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, The Shepheardes Calender […], London: John C. Nimmo, […], 1890, →OCLC, folio 44, verso:
- (transitive) To form into wrinkles or ridges.
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
welk (plural welks)
- Alternative form of whelk
Anagrams edit
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
From Middle Dutch welc, from Old Dutch *wilik, *welik, from Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz.
Pronunciation edit
Determiner edit
welk
- which (what, of those mentioned or implied)
Inflection edit
| Inflection of welk | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| uninflected | welk | |||
| inflected | welke | |||
| comparative | — | |||
| positive | ||||
| predicative/adverbial | ||||
| indefinite | m./f. sing. | welke | ||
| n. sing. | welk | |||
| plural | welke | |||
| definite | welke | |||
| partitive | ||||
Pronoun edit
welk
- (relative) which
Declension edit
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
| Nominative | welke | welke | welk | welke |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genitive | welks | welker | welks | welker |
| Dative | welken | welker | welken | welken |
| Accusative | welken | welke | welk | welke |
Descendants edit
Anagrams edit
German edit
Etymology edit
From Middle High German welc, from Old High German welk; see the verb welken. Cognate with Hunsrik wellich.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
welk (strong nominative masculine singular welker, comparative welker, superlative am welksten or am welkesten)
Declension edit
Positive forms of welk
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
| predicative | er ist welk | sie ist welk | es ist welk | sie sind welk | |
| strong declension (without article) |
nominative | welker | welke | welkes | welke |
| genitive | welken | welker | welken | welker | |
| dative | welkem | welker | welkem | welken | |
| accusative | welken | welke | welkes | welke | |
| weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der welke | die welke | das welke | die welken |
| genitive | des welken | der welken | des welken | der welken | |
| dative | dem welken | der welken | dem welken | den welken | |
| accusative | den welken | die welke | das welke | die welken | |
| mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein welker | eine welke | ein welkes | (keine) welken |
| genitive | eines welken | einer welken | eines welken | (keiner) welken | |
| dative | einem welken | einer welken | einem welken | (keinen) welken | |
| accusative | einen welken | eine welke | ein welkes | (keine) welken | |
Comparative forms of welk
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
| predicative | er ist welker | sie ist welker | es ist welker | sie sind welker | |
| strong declension (without article) |
nominative | welkerer | welkere | welkeres | welkere |
| genitive | welkeren | welkerer | welkeren | welkerer | |
| dative | welkerem | welkerer | welkerem | welkeren | |
| accusative | welkeren | welkere | welkeres | welkere | |
| weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der welkere | die welkere | das welkere | die welkeren |
| genitive | des welkeren | der welkeren | des welkeren | der welkeren | |
| dative | dem welkeren | der welkeren | dem welkeren | den welkeren | |
| accusative | den welkeren | die welkere | das welkere | die welkeren | |
| mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein welkerer | eine welkere | ein welkeres | (keine) welkeren |
| genitive | eines welkeren | einer welkeren | eines welkeren | (keiner) welkeren | |
| dative | einem welkeren | einer welkeren | einem welkeren | (keinen) welkeren | |
| accusative | einen welkeren | eine welkere | ein welkeres | (keine) welkeren | |
Superlative forms of welk
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
Middle English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Old English weoloc, wiloc, wioloc, weluc, from Proto-West Germanic *weluk.
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
welk (plural welkes)
Descendants edit
References edit
- “welk(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2 edit
Verb edit
welk
- Alternative form of welken (“to dry out”)