wet
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English wet (“wet, moistened”), wett, wette, past participle of Middle English weten (“to wet”), from Old English wǣtan (“to wet, moisten, water”), from Proto-Germanic *wētijaną (“to wet, make wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water, wet”) (also the source of water).
Cognate with Scots weit, wete (“to wet”), Saterland Frisian wäitje (“to wet; drench”), Icelandic væta (“to wet”). Compare also Middle English weet (“wet”), from Old English wǣt (“wet, moist, rainy”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāt, from Proto-Germanic *wētaz (“wet, moist”), related to Scots weit, weet, wat (“wet”), North Frisian wiat, weet, wäit (“wet”), Saterland Frisian wäit (“wet”), West Frisian wiet (“wet”), Middle Dutch wet (“wet, damp, watery”), Swedish and Norwegian våt (“wet”), Danish våd (“wet”), Faroese vátur (“wet”), Icelandic votur (“wet”).
Pronunciation edit
- enPR: wĕt, IPA(key): /wɛt/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɛt
- Homophone: whet (in accents with the wine-whine merger)
Adjective edit
wet (comparative wetter, superlative wettest)
- Made up of liquid or moisture, usually (but not always) water.
- Synonym: wetting
- Water is wet.
- Of an object, etc.: covered or impregnated with liquid, usually (but not always) water.
- Synonyms: damp, saturated, soaked; see also Thesaurus:wet
- Antonym: dry
- I went out in the rain and now my clothes are all wet.
- The baby is wet and needs its nappy changed.
- Of a burrito, sandwich, or other food: covered in a sauce.
- 2000, Robert Allen Palmatier, Food: a dictionary of literal and nonliteral terms, page 372:
- A chimichanga (MWCD: 1982) is a burrito that is deep-fried, rather than baked, and is served in the fashion of a wet burrito.
- 2005, Restaurant business, Volume 104, Issues 1-10
- The new item is its first "wet," or sauce-topped, burrito.
- 2011, J. Gabriel Gates, Charlene Keel, Dark Territory, page 13
- But I'm getting the wet burrito.” Ignacio looked down at some sort of a tomato sauce–covered tortilla tube.
- 2000, Robert Allen Palmatier, Food: a dictionary of literal and nonliteral terms, page 372:
- Of calligraphy and fountain pens: depositing a large amount of ink from the nib or the feed.
- This pen’s a wet writer, so it’ll feather on this cheap paper.
- Of a sound recording: having had audio effects applied.
- Of weather or a time period: rainy.
- 1637, John Milton, Comus, London: Humphrey Robinson, p. 32,[1]
- Summer drouth, or singed aire
- Never scorch thy tresses faire,
- Nor wet Octobers torrent flood
- Thy molten crystall fill with mudde,
- 2020 May 20, Paul Stephen, “NR beats floods to secure tracks to Drax”, in Rail, page 58:
- February 2020 was officially the wettest February on record for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the second wettest (behind 1990) for Scotland.
- 1637, John Milton, Comus, London: Humphrey Robinson, p. 32,[1]
- (aviation) Using afterburners or water injection for increased engine thrust.
- This fighter jet's engine is rated for a maximum wet thrust of 450 kilonewtons, more than twice its max dry thrust, but the afterburner eats up a huge amount of fuel.
- (slang) Of a person: inexperienced in a profession or task; having the characteristics of a rookie.
- Synonyms: green, wet behind the ears
- That guy’s wet; after all, he just started yesterday.
- (slang, vulgar, of a female) Sexually aroused and thus having the vulva moistened with vaginal secretions.
- Synonyms: horny, moist; see also Thesaurus:randy
- He got me all wet.
- (Britain, slang) Ineffectual, feeble, showing no strength of character.
- 1924, Percy Marks, chapter XVII, in The Plastic Age:
- "Wet! What currency that bit of slang has—and what awful power. It took me a long time to find out what the word meant, but after long research I think that I know. A man is wet if he isn't a 'regular guy'; he is wet if he isn't 'smooth'; he is wet if he has intellectual interests and lets the mob discover them; and, strangely enough, he is wet by the same token if he is utterly stupid. He is wet if he doesn't show at least a tendency to dissipate, but he isn't wet if he dissipates to excess. A man will be branded as wet for any of these reasons, and once he is so branded, he might as well leave college … "
- 2020, Boris Johnson quoted in "Proms row: Johnson calls for end to 'cringing embarrassment' over UK history," by Jim Waterson, The Guardian, Aug. 25, 2020:
- “I think it’s time we stopped our cringing embarrassment about our history, about our traditions, and about our culture, and we stopped this general fight of self-recrimination and wetness."
- (retronym) Permitting alcoholic beverages.
- 1995, Richard F. Hamm, Shaping the Eighteenth Amendment:
- The wet states would be "the greatest beneficiaries" because the amendment would root out the liquor traffic within their cities.
- (slang, archaic) Refreshed with liquor; drunk.
- Synonyms: inebriated, soused; see also Thesaurus:drunk
- c. 1694, Matthew Prior, “Celia to Damon”
- […] When my lost Lover the tall Ship ascends, / With Musick gay, and wet with Iovial Friends […]
- (biology, chemistry) Of a scientist or laboratory: working with biological or chemical matter.
- Antonym: dry
- (chemistry) Employing, or done by means of, water or some other liquid.
- the wet extraction of copper, in distinction from dry extraction in which dry heat or fusion is employed
- (slang, euphemistic) Involving assassination or "wet work".
- a wet affair; a wet job; wet stuff
- (poker slang) Of a board or flop: enabling the creation of many or of strong hands; e.g. containing connectors or suited cards. (Compare dry).
- (dated or obsolete, colloquial) Of a Quaker: liberal with respect to religious observance.
- 1811. John Adams, Letter to the Boston Patriot, §25. Reprinted in 1856. Charles Francis Adams (ed.), The Life of John Adams, Second President of The United States. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, p. 661.
- The Catholics thought him almost a Catholic. The Church of England claimed him as one of them. The Presbyterians thought him half a Presbyterian, and the Friends believed him a wet Quaker. The dissenting clergymen in England and America were among the most distinguished asserters and propagators of his renown. Indeed, all sects considered him, and I believe justly, a friend to unlimited toleration in matters of religion.
- 1811. John Adams, Letter to the Boston Patriot, §25. Reprinted in 1856. Charles Francis Adams (ed.), The Life of John Adams, Second President of The United States. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, p. 661.
Derived terms edit
- adequately wet
- all wet
- angry as a wet hen
- bed-wet
- draw a wet sponge across the slate
- dripping wet
- feet wet
- get one's dick wet
- get one's feet wet
- get wet
- heavy wet
- like a wet weekend
- mad as a wet hen
- miserable as a wet hen
- pass a wet sponge over the slate
- ridden hard and put away wet
- ride someone hard and put them away wet
- rode hard and put up wet
- soaking wet
- sopping wet
- the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet
- throw a wet blanket on
- water is wet
- way out of a wet paper bag
- wet-and-dry-bulb hygrometer
- wet and messy
- wet and messy fetishism
- wet bag
- wet bar
- wet bargain
- wet behind the ears
- wet beriberi
- wet blanket
- wet-blanket
- wet-blanketry
- wet bob
- wet boy
- wet brain
- wet break
- wet-bulb
- wet bulbing
- wet-bulb temperature
- wet bulb temperature
- wet cell
- wet check
- wet chemical
- wet chemistry
- wet cough
- wet cupping
- wet dock
- wet dream
- wet end
- wet fart
- wet firecracker
- wet fish
- wet fly
- wet gas
- wet goods
- wet haze
- wet heater
- wet job
- wet lab
- wetland
- wet lease
- wet-leasing
- wetlook
- wet market
- wet mass
- wet meadow
- wet meter
- wet nelly
- wet Nelly
- wet-noodle
- wet noodle
- wet nurse
- wet one's clay
- wet one's pants
- wet-on-wet
- wet palette
- wet plate
- wet play
- wet porch
- wet rag
- wet room
- wet rot
- wet-rot
- wet sand
- wet-sand
- wet-sanding
- wet sanding
- wet season
- wet signature
- wet stacking
- wet suit
- wetter than an otter's pocket
- wet the bed
- wet the shamrock
- wet through
- wet t-shirt competition
- wet t-shirt contest
- wetware
- wet-weather
- wet weed
- wet well
- wet willy
- wet wipe
- wetwork
- wild as a wet hen
- wringing wet
Descendants edit
Translations edit
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See also edit
Noun edit
wet (countable and uncountable, plural wets)
- Liquid or moisture.
- 1671, John Milton, “The Fourth Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:
- Now the sun, with more effectual beams, / Had cheered the face of earth, and dried the wet / From drooping plant.
- Rainy weather.
- Don't go out in the wet.
- (Australia) Rainy season. (often capitalized)
- 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XI, in Capricornia[2], New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, pages 186–7:
- They'll be in the camp […] before the Wet's out, mark my words.
- 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 289:
- Once the wet kicks in up north, you can be stranded for months waiting for swollen rivers to subside to a crossable depth[.]
- 2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 365:
- He said he wanted to beat the clouds gathering, before the Wet had properly settled itself over the plains again.
- 2015, David Andrew, The Complete Guide to Finding the Mammals of Australia, Csiro Publishing, Appendix B, page 380 [3]
- Northern Australia is tropical and subject to a prolonged wet season (often called simply 'the Wet') that may last from December to April […] . The Wet features high humidity, heavy rain, flooding that can cut off towns and roads for days on end, and, in most years, violent cyclones that cause high seas, widespread damage and sometimes loss of life.
- (Britain, UK politics, derogatory) A moderate Conservative; especially, one who opposed the hard-line policies of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
- Antonym: dry
- (colloquial) An alcoholic drink.
- 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 60:
- ‘A pity,’ said Jim, ‘I thought we was going to have a free wet.’
- (US, colloquial) One who supports the consumption of alcohol and thus opposes Prohibition.
- c. 1952-1996, Noah S. Sweat, quoted in 1996
- The drys were as unhappy with the second part of the speech as the wets were with the first half.
- c. 1952-1996, Noah S. Sweat, quoted in 1996
- (motor racing, in the plural) A tyre for use in wet weather.
- 2004, Jonathan Noble, Mark Hughes, Formula One Racing For Dummies, page 303:
- Wets, designed to channel water away from underneath the tyres, maximise grip and minimise the chance of aquaplaning.
- (colloquial, derogatory) A weak or sentimental person; a wimp or softie.
- 1984, British Book News, page 324:
- Above all, he [Nigel Molesworth] is his own man, resolutely committed to a view of life that divides his fellow pupils into 'sissies', 'wets', 'swots' and 'old lags'.
- 1990, Grant Naylor, Better Than Life:
- Rimmer had never been terribly good at sports. In fact, he'd been one of the group of 'wets, weirdos and fatties' who stood by the touchline at ball games, worrying about their chapped legs, and fleeing whenever the ball came near them.
Translations edit
Verb edit
wet (third-person singular simple present wets, present participle wetting, simple past and past participle wet or wetted)
- (transitive) To cover or impregnate with liquid.
- 1941 December, G. H. Soole, “The Mountain Section of the C.P.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 530:
- There is scanty room for a railway, and in many places the rails are wetted by the spray from the Illecillewaet, which is the Indian word for a raging torrent.
- (transitive, intransitive) To make or become wet.
- 2008, “Be Nice To Me”, in I Hate My Friends, performed by The Front Bottoms:
- I try to show emotion, but my eyes won't seem to wet
- (transitive) To make (oneself, clothing, a bed, etc.) wet by accidental urination.
- Johnny wets the bed several times a week.
- She was laughing so hard she wet her pants.
- (transitive, soldering) To form an intermetallic bond between a solder and a metal substrate.
- (transitive, informal) To celebrate by drinking alcohol.
- 1826, Thomas Bayly Howell, Thomas Jones Howell, A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings:
- [He] invited some officers and other gentlemen to dine with him at the Dolphin tavern in Tower street, June 17, 1706, in order to wet his commission […]
- Misspelling of whet.
- (US, MLE, MTE, slang) To kill or seriously injure.
- 1992 May 5, House of Pain (lyrics and music), “Jump Around” (track 2), in House of Pain[4]:
- I'm coming to get ya, I'm coming to get ya / Spitting out lyrics, homie, I'll wet ya
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Anagrams edit
Afrikaans edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
wet (plural wette)
Derived terms edit
Ambonese Malay edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
wet
- law
- Kalu su langgar wet tantu dia masu bui.
- If it's against the law, of course he will go to jail.
References edit
- D. Takaria, C. Pieter (1998) Kamus Bahasa Melayu Ambon-Indonesia[5], Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa
Araki edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Bislama wet (“wet”), from English wet.
Adjective edit
wet
- (Southwest Santo) wet
References edit
- François, A. (2002) Araki: A disappearing language of Vanuat, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. Cited in: "Araki (Southwest Santo)" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
Chinese edit
Etymology edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “From English wet? [6] From 威?”)
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
wet
- (Hong Kong Cantonese, dated) to go clubbing; to party; to hang out; to have a good time
Synonyms edit
- 蒲 (pou4)
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Dutch edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle Dutch wet, wette, wit, weet, from Old Dutch witat, witut (“rule, law”), from Proto-Germanic *witōþą (“law”).
Noun edit
wet f (plural wetten, diminutive wetje n)
- law (rule)
- law (body of rules declared and/or enforced by a government)
- (physics) law of nature
Derived terms edit
- abortuswet
- amnestiewet
- basiswet
- besluitwet
- grondwet
- natuurwet
- noodwet
- pandemiewet
- rijkswet
- sleepwet
- spijswet
- spoedwet
- taalwet
- voedselwet
- Vreugde der Wet
- wapenwet
- wet van Meden en Perzen
- wetboek
- wetgeleerde
- wetgevend
- wetgever
- wetgeving
- wethouder
- wetmatig
- wetsartikel
- wetsbepaling
- wetsbesluit
- wetsdelict
- wetsdienaar
- wetsherziening
- wetsinterpretatie
- wetsontduiking
- wetsontwerp
- wetsovertreding
- wetsrol
- wetsschennis
- wetstaal
- wetstekst
- wetsteller
- wetsverkrachter
- wetsverzetting
- wetsvoorstel
- wetswijziging
- wetswinkel
- wettelijk
- wetteloos
- wettenverzameling
- wettig
- wettisch
Descendants edit
- Afrikaans: wet
- Jersey Dutch: wät
- Negerhollands: wet
- → Ambonese Malay: wet
- → Caribbean Javanese: wèt
- → Indonesian: wet
- → Madurese: ꦮꦺꦠ꧀ (wet)
- → Sranan Tongo: wèt
See also edit
Further reading edit
- “wet” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]
Etymology 2 edit
Verb edit
wet
- inflection of wetten:
Indonesian edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
wet or wèt
- law (rule)
- Synonyms: hukum, undang-undang
Further reading edit
- “wet” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.
Middle English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Old English wǣt, wāt, and weten (“to wet”).
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
wet
- wet, watery
- (weather) wet, rainy
- liquid, fluid
- damp, moist, waterlogged
- (terrain) marshy, boggy
- (alchemy, medicine) Something that is considered alchemically wet
- teary, weepy
- bloody, bloodstained
- sweaty, having sweat
Descendants edit
References edit
- “wē̆t, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-26.
Noun edit
- Water or another liquid
- wetness; wateriness
- (alchemy, medicine) Alchemical wetness
- Rain, raininess
- 15th c., “Pagina pastorum [Shepherds' Play, I]”, in Wakefield Mystery Plays; Re-edited in George England, Alfred W. Pollard, editors, The Towneley Plays (Early English Text Society Extra Series; LXXI), London: […] Oxford University Press, 1897, →OCLC, page 100, lines 1–9:
- Lord, what they are weyll / that hens ar past! / ffor thay noght feyll / theym to downe cast. / here is makyll vnceyll / and long has it last, / Now in hart, now in heyll / now in weytt, now in blast / Now in care, / Now in comforth agane, / Now is fayre, now is rane, / Now in hart full fane, / And after full sare.
- Lord! They are well that are gone from here! For they do not feel anything, those who have been cast down. Here, there is much misery, and it lasts a long time: in one's heart, in hail, in rain, in wind or thunder, in care, then in comfort again, then fairness, then rain; at one point glad in heart, and after most grieved.
Descendants edit
References edit
- “wē̆t, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-26.
Old Polish edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Middle High German wette (“repayment”).[1][2][3][4] First attested in the 15th century.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
wet m ?
- damages (monetary payment as compensation for a criminal act committed or as compensation for damage caused, also a court penalty imposed on a litigant)
- 1972 [15th century], Józef Reczek, Wacław Twardzik, editors, Najstarsze staropolskie tłumaczenie ortyli magdeburskich wg rkpsu nr 50, pages 91, 1:
- Tedy mvszy (sc. powod) wyny a wetty pokvpycz (opportet pro eo emendas et poenas dare)
- [Tedy musi (sc. powod) winy i wety pokupić (opportet pro eo emendas et poenas dare)]
Descendants edit
- Polish: wet
References edit
- ^ Boryś, Wiesław (2005), “wet”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
- ^ Stanisław Dubisz, editor (2003), “wet”, in Uniwersalny słownik języka polskiego [Universal dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), volume 1-4, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN SA, →ISBN
- ^ Mirosław Bańko; Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021), “wet”, in Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
- ^ Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “wet”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN
- B. Sieradzka-Baziur, editor (2011–2015), “1. wet, weta”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN
Old Saxon edit
Verb edit
wēt
Polish edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Inherited from Old Polish wet.
Noun edit
wet m inan
- (obsolete except in set phrases) compensation
- Synonyms: odpłacenie, odwzajemnienie
- (archaic, in the plural) dessert
- Synonym: deser
Declension edit
Alternative forms edit
- weta (obsolete)
Derived terms edit
- wetować impf
Etymology 2 edit
Clipping of weterynarz. Compare English vet.
Noun edit
wet m pers
- (colloquial) Synonym of weterynarz
Declension edit
Etymology 3 edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Noun edit
wet n
Etymology 4 edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Noun edit
wet f
Further reading edit
- wet in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- wet in Polish dictionaries at PWN
- “wet”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish], 2010-2023
- “WET”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 13.09.2022
- Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814), “wet”, in Słownik języka polskiego
- Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “wet”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
- J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1919), “wet”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 7, Warsaw, page 515
Tok Pisin edit
Etymology 1 edit
Adjective edit
wet
Etymology 2 edit
Verb edit
wet
Wolof edit
Noun edit
wet (definite form wet gi)
References edit
Omar Ka (2018) Nanu Dégg Wolof, National African Language Resource Center, →ISBN, page 257