6381. 
vie 
The Sonne of saint Elaine, the seemelich Ladie, 
That weihe^ worshipen yet for hur werk hende. 
Alimunder of Macedoine (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 1227. 
To the water thai went, tho nvghU! to gedur, 
Paris to pursew with prise men of Armes. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3684. 
wielt, »• See ireel^. 
wield (weld), r. t. [< ME. trehhii (pret. u-rUle, 
wafde, tceltf, icelded, weldide, pp. welt), < AS. ge- 
tceldan, (leici/ldan, have power over; a seeoii- 
darv form of the strong verb, ME. u-alden, wcal- 
rff n"(pret. wield), < AS. wealdaii (pret. %i-e6ld, pp. 
wealden), have power over, govern, rule, pos- 
sess. = OS. icaldaii = OFries. w(i(da = D. wel- 
deii = OHG. waltaii, dispose, manage, rule, 
MHG. G. wdlfeii, rule, = Icel. valda, wield, = 
Sw. rSlhi (for "vAlda), occasion, cause, = Dan. 
volde, commoulv for-voldo, occasion, cause, = 
Goth.waldaii, govern; cf. Russ.rZarfjefo", reign, -vv-iesUTe'n water, 
rule, possess "' ' ' -'^ ...~>-j..i. ...i« 
govern, possess 
have power 
sway over 
Now coronyd is the kyng this cuntre to weld ; 
Hade homage of all men, & honour full grete, 
And began for to gouerne, as gome in his owne 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 
Adam . . . welte al Paiadys, saving o tree. 
Chaucer, Monk's Tale, 1. 20. 
Thence to the famous orators repair, 
Those ancient, whose resistless eloquence 
Wielded at will that fierce democratic, 
Shook the arsenal, and fulniined over Greece. 
Milton, P. E., iv. 269. 
Where'er that Power may move . . . 
Which widds the world with never-weiu'ied love. 
Shelley, Adonais, xlii. 
2. To use or exert in governing; sway. 
Her new-born power was wielded at the first by unprin- 
cipled and ambitious men. De Quiticey. 
3. Hence, in general, to exercise ; put to prac- 
tical or active use, as a means, an instrument, 
or a weapon; use with freedom and ease : as, to 
wield a hammer. 
Ac his Witt welt he after as wel as to-fore. 
WUliam of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 142. 
In oure chapitre praye we day and nyght 
To Crist that he thee sende heele and myght 
Thy body for to weelden hastily. 
Chaucer, Summoner's Tale, 1. 239. 
Part widd their arms, part curb the foaming steed. 
Milton, P. L., xi. 643. 
A potent wand doth Sorrow wield. 
Wordsworth, Peter Bell. 
4t. To have; possess; enjoy. 
And sum prince axide him, seyinge. Good niaister, what 
thing doynge schal I wdde euerlastyng lyf ? 
Wycl%f, Luke xviii. 18. 
And alway [he] slewe the kynges dere. 
And welt them at his wyll. 
Lytell Geste of Itobyn Uode (Child's Ballads, V. 1(18). 
But tell me, that hast seen him, Menaphon, 
What stature uields he, and what personage? 
Marlowe, Taniburlaine, I., ii. 1. 
To wield a good baton. See baton. 
■wieldt, »• [< ME. welde (cf. wtdde, wulde, < AS. 
f/eweald, power); from the verb.] Command; 
power; management. 
Doo weel bi hem of thi good that thou hast in welde. 
Babees Urmk (E. E. T. S.), p. 43. 
wieldable (wel'da-bl), a. [< wield + -(ible.^ 
Capable of being wielded. 
'wieldancet (wel'dans), ». [< wield + -o«ce.] 
The act or power of wielding, iij;. Hall, St. 
Paul's Combat, ii. 
wielder (wel'der), ». [< ME. wcMcrp, possessor 
(=G. wiilter = Ic(A. rtddari, viddr, ruler) ; < wield 
+ -fij'l.] One wlio wields, employs, manages, 
or possesses. 
Like the faliled spear of old mythology, endued with 
the faculty of healing the saddest wound its most violent 
unelder can inflict. 
Landor, Iniag. Conv., Melanchthon and Calvin. 
Brisk wielder of the birch and rule, 
Tlie master of the village school. 
Whittier, Snow-Bound. 
'wieldiness (wel'di-nes), II. The property of 
being wicldy. 
'Wieldillgt (wel'ding), n. [< ME. weeldipH/e ; 
verbal n. of wield, ».] Management; control. 
Ye have hem in youre myght and in youre weeldyngc. 
Chaucer, Tale of Melibeus. 
■wieldless (weld'les), a. [Early inod. E. weeld- 
le.tse ; < wield + -te«.s-.] Unmanageable; un- 
wieldy. 
That with the weight of his owmt weeldlesHc might 
He falleth nigh tti ground, and scurse recoveretti tliglit. 
Spenser, ¥. Q., IV. iii. 10. 
wieldsomet (weld'sum), «. [< wield + -siiiiie. 
Cf. (for the form) G. tjcwitll'iiiiii, violciit, pow- 
6922 
Wig 
erful.] Capable of being easily managed or 
wielded. Goldinn. ., ,, .^„ ,. ,^ , i. i, • u- 
■wieldy (wel'di), a. [< ME. wcldy, extended -Wlfe-carl (\vif karl), ». A man who busies hiin 
A wifC'bound man now dost thou rear the walls 
Of high Carthage? Surrey, ^Eneid, iv. 343. 
form of welde, < AS. wylde, dominant, control- 
ling, < wealduii, rule, govern : see wield. Cf. uii- 
wield!/.'\ It. Capable of wielding ; dexterous; 
strong; active. 
So fressh, so yong. so iceldy senied he. 
It was an beven upon him for to se. 
Chajicer, Troilus, ii. 636. 
2. Capable of being wielded; manageaVjle; 
wieldable; not unwieldy. Johnson. 
wier, )'. See weir. 
■wierdt, 'Wierdet, «• Obsolete spellings of weird. 
■wieryif, «• An old spelling of wiry. Compare 
.liery for firy. 
■wiery-t, "• [^ -AS. wier, a pool, a fish-pond.] 
Wet; moist; marshy. 
See water. 
lf= D. wijf = LG. wief = 
lolp, G. weil) = Icel. vif (used only in poetry) 
= Sw. vif = Dan. viv, woman; not found in 
Goth, and not traced outside of Teut. ; root un 
self about household affairs or woman's work. 
[Scotch.] 
'vnfehood (vrifhiid), «. [< ME. wifliod, wiif- 
hood, < AS. wifhnd, < %eif, wife, + had, condi- 
tion.] Wifely character or condition ; the state 
of being a wife. 
She taughte al the craft of fyn lovinge, 
And namely of uryfhood the livinge. 
CItaucer, Good 'Women, 1. .545. 
The stately flower of female fortitude. 
Of perfect wifehood. Tennyson, Isabel. 
'Wifekint (wif'kin), n. [ME., < wife + fc(«l.] 
Womankind. Getiesis and Exodus (E. E. T. S.), 
1. &56. 
wifeless (wif'les), a. [< ME. wiifles, wyfles, 
wyflees; < wife + -less.'] Without a wife ; un- 
married. 
Sixty yeer a wyjUes man was he. 
Chaucer, Merchant's Tale, 1. 4. 
■Wifelike (-wif 'lik), a. [< wife + -like.'] Kesem- 
bling or pertaining to a wife or woman. 
Wifelike government. Shak., Hen. VIII., ii. 4. 138. 
Wifdike, her hand in one of his. 
Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. 
known. It cannot be connected, as commoidy —if.,„,„^f,y,^ „ re MTi' wUlu JiHi < AS wif 
tremble L Xw^^^ '^' < '"X ^fe + -lie, ^. -ly^ .] Pertaining to 
tremble, L,. ) (0/«rf, vioraie, (luiver, tjiiu. nei >,„fitti„<r a wlfp- like a wife. 
ho», -waver, be inspired, be irresolute, and sup- 
pose that the word orig. meant ' something in- 
spired' (tlie Germans orig. seeing in woman 
sanclnin aliqnid ct providiim), or that it orig. 
meant 'trembling,' with ref. to the timidity of 
a bride. Some connect it with Goth, waibjan. 
or befitting a wife ; like a wife. 
Yit is it bet for me 
For to be deed in wyfly honestee 
Than be a traltour living in ray shame. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 2701. 
With all the tenderness of wifdy love. 
Dryden, Amphitryon, iii. 
wind, twine, in bi-waibjaii, wind about, clothe, -wife-ridden (wif'rid''n), fl. Unduly influenced 
envelop, because of a woman's 'enveloping by a wife; ruled or tyrannized over by a wife ; 
clothing,' or because she is tlie 'one who binds henpecked. 
or unites herself .' These are all vagaries. The Listen not to those sages who advise you always to scorn 
earlier Teut. word, the one with other Indo-Eu- the counsel of a woman, and if you comply with her re- 
ropean cognates, is that represented by queen, quests pronounce you wife-ridden. Mrs. Piozzi. 
quean. The neuter or inadequate significance -wiflet, »• [Origin obscure.] A kind of ax. 
of the word isprob. indicated also by the forma- xj. crosljowes whereof iij. of stele, and v wyndas. Item, 
tion in AS. of the appar. more distinctive word i- borespere. Item, vj. vyiJUs. Paston Letters, I. 487. 
wifman. whence ult. E. woman.] 1 . A woman : 'wifmant, "• A Middle English form of woman. 
now only in rural or provincial use, especially in •mg^, n. [< ME. wig, < AS. wicg = Icel. viggr 
Scotland, and usually -svith an adjective, or in (viggja-), also vigg, a horse, steed; conne^cted 
composition with a noun, implying a woman of 
humble position : as,oldwi!!e,s-' tales; afishtt'(/6". 
On the grene he saugh sittynge a wyf ; 
A fouler wight ther may no man devise. 
Chaucer, Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 142. 
To sink the ship she sent away 
Her witch wives every one. 
The Laidley Worm of SpiiuXleston-tietigh (Child's Ballads, 
II. 284). 
She . . . shudder'd, as the village uife who cries 
"I shudder, some one steps across my grave." 
Tennyson, Guinevere. 
2. The mistress of a house; a hostess: called 
more distinctively the goodwife (correlative to 
(joodman) or the housewife. 
A preest . . . 
Which was so pleasaunt and so servisable 
Unto the wyf, wher as he was at table. 
That she woulde suffre him no thing for to paye. 
Chaucer, Canon's Yeoman's Tale, 1. 4. 
3. A woman who is united to a man in the law- 
ful bonds of wedlock; a man's spouse: the cor- 
relative of husband. 
He 3ede forth bliue 
To Rymenhild his ivyue. 
King Horn (E. E. T. S.), p. 21. 
The Soudan bathe 4 Wyfes, on Cristene and 3 Sarazines ; 
of the wliiche on dwellethe at Jerusalem, and another at 
Damasce, and another at Ascalon. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 38. 
A good u-ife is heaven's last best gift to man, his angel 
and minister of graces innumerable, his gem of many vir- 
tues, his casket of jewels. Jer. Taylor. 
All the world and his wife. See icorW.-- Auld wives' 
tongues. Heeaii/rf. -Deceased Wife's Sister Bill. Sec 
W«:'.— Dutch wife. See D»/cA.— Inliibition against 
a-srtfe. SeeiHMWfion.— Old -wife. See did.— Old -wives' 
tale. See lalel.— Plural -wives, consorts or concubines 
of the same man under a polygamous union.— Ratifica- 
tion by a wife. See ralijicalion.— Wife's equity,in law, 
the general rule established by courts of equity that where 
a husband resorted to a coui-t of equity to enforce his com- 
nion law marital right to take his wife's property, that 
court would, in general, oblige him to make a reasonal)le 
provision out of the fund for the benefit of his wife and 
children. This doctrine has been extended or superseded 
by acts wliich secure the whole property of a wife to her- 
self. 
-wifet (wif), '-. ;. [< wife, »(.] To take a -«'ife; 
inaiTv. 
Bu. . . . An't you weary of irifeinfi ? 
Po. I aju so weai7 of it that, if this Eighth should die 
to Day I would ntarry the Ninth to-Morrow. 
.V. ISaileji, tr. of Colloquies of Ei-asmus, I. 348. 
■wife-bound (wif 'bound), n. Devoted or tied 
down to ii wife; wife-ridden. [Bare.] 
with' AS. wegan, earry: see way^, weight-.] 
beast of burden, as a horse or an ass. 
Ac theh he [were] aire louerdes louerd, and aire klngene 
ki(n)g, natheles he sende after the aire unwurtheate wig 
one to riden, and that is asse. 
Old Eng. Homilies, 2d ser., p. 89. 
wig2 (wig), n. [Also wigg (and erroneously 
whig) ; early mod. E. wygg'e ; = D. wig, wigge, a 
wedge, = G. week, wecke, a sort of bread : see 
wedge^.] A sort of cake. [Obsolete or local.] 
Home to the only Lenten supper I have had of wiggs 
and ale. Pepys, Diary, II. 117. 
You may make wigs of the biscuit dough, by adding . . . 
currans. Coll. of Keceipts, p. 2. (Jamitson.) 
■wig3 (wig), j(. [Abbr. ot peritcig : see periwig 
and peruke.] 1. An 
artificial covering 
of hair for the head, 
used generally to 
conceal baldness, 
but formerly worn 
as a fashionable 
head-dress. Wigs are 
usually made to imitate 
the natural hair, but 
formal curled wigs are 
worn as part of their 
professionjil costume by 
judges and lawyers in 
Great Britain. Wigs are 
much used on the stage. 
See peruke. 
I have often wanted 
him to throwoff his great 
flaxen )«!/; . . . with his 
usual Gothic vivacity, 
lie said I only wanted 
. . . to convert it into a 
tete for my own wearing. 
Goldsmith, .She Stoops 
[to Conquer, ii. 
I never believe any- 
thing that a lawyer says 
when he has a wig on his 
head and a fee in his 
hand. 
Trollope, Phineas Re- 
|dux, Ixi. 
2. The full-gro-wn 
male fur-seal of 
Alaska. Callnrhinus 
ur.iinus. See cut un- 
under fur-seal. — 3. 
The head. [Col- 
loq.] — Allonge wig. 
Forms of Wig worn in Great Brilain 
in the 17th and 18th centuries. 
i.TimeofJaraesl.: 2. time of Charles 
I.: 3,4.5, Ke-storation. Charles II.; 6,7, 
time of James II. and Anne: 8. 9, time 
of William and Mary ; ro, campaign 
wig, 1684: II. Ramilie wig, 1730; 18. 
tjob-H-ifi, 1742; 13. 14, the Macaronis* 
wig, 1772; 15, 16.' wigs of 1774-80: 17. 
18, wigs of 1785-95. 
