wield
See also: WIELD
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English wēlden, which combines forms from two closely related verbs: Old English wealdan (“to control, rule”) (strong class 7) and Old English wieldan (“to control, subdue”) (weak). Both verbs ultimately derive from Proto-West Germanic *waldan, from Proto-Germanic *waldaną (“to rule”)
The reason for the merger was that in Middle English the -d in the stem made it hard to distinguish between strong and weak forms in the past tense.[1]
Pronunciation edit
- enPR: wēld, IPA(key): /wiːld/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -iːld
- Homophones: wealed, Weald, weald, wheeled (in accents with the wine-whine merger)
Verb edit
wield (third-person singular simple present wields, present participle wielding, simple past and past participle wielded)
- (obsolete) To command, rule over; to possess or own.
- 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum 7”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book V, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:
- There was never kyng sauff myselff that welded evir such knyghtes.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (obsolete) To control, to guide or manage.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- With such his chearefull speaches he doth wield / Her mind so well, that to his will she bends […].
- (obsolete) To carry out, to bring about.
- a. 1513, Virgil, “VIII, prologue”, in Gawin Douglas [i.e., Gavin Douglas], transl., edited by [George Dundas], The Æneid of Virgil: Translated into Scottish Verse (Bannatyne Club, Publications; 64, no. 1), volume I, Edinburgh: T. Constable, printer, published 1839, →OCLC, page 448, line 1:
- All is weill done, God wate, weild he hys will.
- To handle with skill and ease, especially a weapon or tool.
- To exercise (authority or influence) effectively.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
to handle with skill and ease
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to handle or use a weapon
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to exercise authority or influence
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References edit
- ^ “wield, verb.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2021.
Anagrams edit
Saterland Frisian edit
Adjective edit
wield (masculine wielden, feminine, plural or definite wielde)
- Alternative spelling of wíeld
Scots edit
Etymology edit
From Old English wieldan (“to control”), a derivative of wealdan (“to govern”), from Proto-West Germanic *waldan. Cognate with German walten, Swedish vålla.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
wield