WAN 
WAN 
556 
that it was formerly much more populous and better cul¬ 
tivated than at present; but it has suffered much from the 
wars between the Candians and the different European con¬ 
querors of the island; but now that it is in the tranquil pos¬ 
session of the British, it will probably recover its former pros¬ 
perity. 
WA NOOAETTEE, a small island in the Pacific ocean; 
10 miles west-north-west of Wateehoo. 
WANSBECK, a river of England, in Northumberland, 
which falls into the sea near Seaton Delaval. 
WANSEN, a town of Prussian Silesia, in the government 
of Oppeln : 22 miles souih-by-east of Breslau. Popula¬ 
tion 800. 
WANSFORD, a hamlet of England, in the parish of 
Thornaugh, Northamptonshire; 6 miles from Peterborough. 
WANSFORD, a township of England, in Yorkshire, near 
Driffield. Population 368. 
WANSLEBEN (John-Michael), the son of a Lutheran 
minister at Erfurt, in Thuringia, was born in 1635; and 
having studied philosophy and theology at Konigsberg, he 
acquired a knowledge of the Ethiopic language under the 
instruction of Ludolf, by whom he was sent to London to 
publish his Ethiopic dictionary in 1661 ; and he was also 
employed by Castell in compiling his “ Lexicon Heptaglot- 
ton.” Upon his return to Germany, Ernest, duke of Saxe- 
Gotha, engaged him to visit Abyssinia, for the purpose of 
acquainting himself with the language and natural history of 
that country; but having reached Cairo in 1663, he was 
prevented from proceeding to Abyssinia, as it is thought, by 
liis own misconduct, and embarking at Alexandria, in 1665, 
he arrived in Italy; and in the following year abandoned Lu¬ 
theranism, and entered into the Dominican order. Upon his 
being introduced to Colbert, at Paris, in 1670, he was en¬ 
gaged to make a visit to Abyssinia, and to bring home all 
the manuscripts which he could purchase. During his resi¬ 
dence of twenty months in Egypt, he transmitted for the 
Royal Library at Paris, 334 manuscripts, Arabian, Persian, 
and Turkish. But not* being able to enter Abyssinia, he 
went to Constantinople, and from tSence, in 1676, he was 
recalled to France,- on account of his irregular conduct. 
Being at length reduced to want, he gained a mere subsist¬ 
ence by serving the village church of Bouron as vicar, where 
he died at the age of fifty-eight, in the year 1693. His prin¬ 
cipal publications are, “ The Liturgy of DioscoruS, Patriarch 
of Alexandria,” Lond. 1662; “ An Account of the present 
State of Egypt, in Italian,” 1671; “ Nouvelle Relation en 
forme de Journal d’un Voyage fait en Egypte au 1672 et 
1673;” “ Histoire de l’Eglise d’Alexandria,” 1677; which 
is said to contain a more accurate catalogue of the patriarchs 
of Alexandria than that of Ludolf communicated to the Je¬ 
suits of Antwerp. Moreri. 
WANSTEAD, a village and parish of England, in the 
county of Essex, and in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. 
Many of the houses in the parish are handsome buildings, 
the residence of opulent merchants and tradesmen of Lon¬ 
don. The present church was finished in the year 1790; 
the foundation having been laid by the late Sir James Tilney 
Long, Bart. 
WANSTEAD, a hamlet of England, in Southamptonshire, 
near Titchfield, 
To WANT, ». a. [“ Waned, wan'd, want; the past par¬ 
ticiple of panian, decrescere, to wane, to fall away.” Mr. 
H. Tooke.~\ To be without something fit or necessary.— 
Want no money, Sir John; you shall want none. Shak- 
spcarc. —To be defective in something. 
Nor can this be, 
But by fulfilling that which thou didst want, 
Obedience to the law. Milton. 
To fall short of; not to contain. 
Nor think, though men were none, 
That Heaven would want spectators, God want praise. 
Milton. 
To be without; not to have. 
By descending from the thrones above, 
Those happy places, thou hast deign’d a while 
To want and honour these. Milton , 
To need; to have need of; to lack. 
The sylvans to their shade retire. 
Those very shades and streams new shades and streams require. 
And want a cooling breeze of wind to fan the raging fire. 
Dry den. 
To wish ; to long; to desire. 
Down I come, like glistering Phaeton, 
Wanting the manage of unruly jades. Shakspeare. 
To WANT, v. n. To be wanted; to be improperly ab¬ 
sent; not to be in sufficient quantity.—Nor did there want 
cornice of frieze. Milton. —To fail; to be deficient. 
Nor shall I to the work thou enterprisest 
Be wanting, but afford thee equal aid. Milton. 
To be missed; to be not had. 
Twelve, wanting one, he slew. 
My brethren: I alone surviv’d. Dry den. 
■ WANT, s. Need. 
It infers the good 
By thee communicated, and our want. Milton. 
Deficiency.—This proceeded not from any want of know¬ 
ledge, but of judgment. Dryden. —The slate of not having. 
—You shall have no reason to complain of me, for want of 
a generous disdain of this world. Pope. —Poverty; penury; 
indigence.—Nothing is so hard for those who abound in 
riches, as to conceive how others can be in want. Swift. — 
[panb, Saxon.] A molo.—A kind of hair resembling a want 
in his feet, and a cat in his tail. Heylin. 
WANTAGE, a market town of England, in the county of 
Berks, situated on the skirts of the prolific vale of White 
Horse. A variety of concurring testimonies render it pro¬ 
bable that this place was once a Roman station; though the 
numerous alterations which it has undergone, almost pre¬ 
clude the possibility of tracing those remains which would 
at once decide the question and the controversy. In this 
neighbourhood the footsteps of various nations may be dis¬ 
covered ; but they are all imperfect. Roman works have 
been demolished to make room for Saxon, and these again 
have been superseded by the devices of modern times. This 
town is celebrated in history as the birth-place of the great 
Alfred, and in the time of the Saxons it was a royal residence; 
and after the conquest it was made a borough. About three 
miles south are the remains of an ancient Roman camp, 
called Lefcombe Castle; 26 miles north-west of Reading, 
and 60 north-west of London. Population 2386. 
WANTESDEN, a parish of England, in Suffolk; 4§ 
miles north-west-by-west of Orford. 
WA'NTLESS, adj. Abundant; fruitful. 
Fruitful banks, whose bounds are chiefly said, 
The wantlesse counties Essex, Kent, Surrey, &c. Warner. 
Nor sends a doit of needless subsidy 
To cram the Kenuet’s want less treasury. Sylvester. 
WA'NTON, adj. [This word is derived by Minsheu from 
want one, a man or woman that wants a companion. Se- 
renius refers it to the Goth, faenta, puella lasciva; Lye to 
the Danish vaanden, delicatus, pampered .] Lascivious; 
libidinous; lecherous; lustful. 
Thou art froward by nature, enemy to peace. 
Lascivious, wanton ; more than well beseems 
A man of thy profession. Shakspeare. 
Licentious; dissolute. 
My plenteous joys. 
Wanton jn fulness, seek to hide themselves 
In drops of sorrow. Shakspeare. 
Frolicsome; gay; sportive; airy. 
As flies to wanton boy, we are to th’ gods: 
They kill us for their sport. Shakspeare. 
Loose; unrestrained.—How does your tongue grow wan¬ 
ton in her praise! Addison . 
Quick 
