wench
Use Wench in a sentence
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noun
1.
a country lass or working girl: The milkmaid was a healthy wench.
2.
Usually Facetious. a girl or young woman.
3.
Archaic. a strumpet.
verb (used without object)
4.
to associate, especially habitually, with promiscuous women.
Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English, back formation from wenchel, Old English wencel child, akin to wancol tottering, said of a child learning to walk; akin to German wankeln to totter
1250–1300; Middle English, back formation from wenchel, Old English wencel child, akin to wancol tottering, said of a child learning to walk; akin to German wankeln to totter
Related forms
wench·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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|
Link To wench
00:10
Wench
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is skedaddle. Does it mean:
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
| to run away hurriedly; flee. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
wench (wɛntʃ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a girl or young woman, esp a buxom or lively one: now used facetiously |
| 2. | archaic a female servant |
| 3. | archaic a prostitute |
| —vb | |
| 4. | archaic to frequent the company of prostitutes |
| [Old English wencel child, from wancol weak; related to Old High German wanchal, wankōn] | |
| 'wencher | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
wench
late 13c., wenche "girl or young woman," shortened from wenchel "child" (12c.), from O.E. wencel, probably related to wancol "unsteady, fickle, weak," and cognate with O.N. vakr "child, weak person," O.H.G. wanchal "fickle." The word degenerated through being used in ref. to servant girls, and by mid-14c.
was being used in a sense of "woman of loose morals, mistress." The verb meaning "to associate with common women" is from 1590s.
"The wenche is nat dead, but slepith." [Wyclif, Matt. ix.24, c.1380]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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