W E L 
604 W E L 
To WELK, v. a. [Of this word in Spenser I know not 
well the meaning: pealcan, in Saxon, is to roll ; wolken, 
in German, and pelcen, in Saxon, are clouds; whence I 
suppose tv elk, or whilk, is an undulation or corrugation, or 
corrugated or convolved body. Whilk is used for a small 
shell-fish. Johnson. —The contemporary commentator on 
Spenser explains welked by shortened or impaired; and to 
this agrees our elder language: “ The lond now welketh, and 
now it groweth.” Gower, Conf Am. Prol. —It seems in 
Spenser, both active and neuter.] Now sad Winter welked 
hath the day. Spenser. 
To WELK, v.n. To dry; to wither. North. —Mown 
grass in drying for hay is said to welk. Grose. —Thus in 
our old lexicography “ welkynge, marcor; we/kyd, mar- 
cidus.” Pr. Parv. 
WE'LKED, adj. Set with protuberances. Properly, I 
believe, whelked, from whelk. 
Methought his eyes 
Were two full moons: he had a thousand noses, 
Horns welk’d and wav’d like the enridged sea. Shakspeare. 
WE'LKIN, s. [from pealcan, to roll, or pelcen, clouds, 
Sax.] The visible regions of the air. Out of use, except 
in poetry. 
Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood : 
Amaze the welkin with your broken staves. Shakspeare. 
Their hideous yells 
Rend the dark welkin. Philips. 
WE'LKIN eye, is, I suppose, blue eye; sky-coloured 
eye. Johnson. —Not so, but a rolling eye, equally appli¬ 
cable to an eye of any colour, [pealcan, Saxon, to roll.] 
Tooke. 
Yet were it true 
To say this boy were like me! Come, sir page, 
Look on me with your welkin eye, sweet villain. 
Shakspeare. 
WELL, s. [pelle, poell, Saxon.] Aspring; a fountain; 
a source. 
Begin then, sisters of the sacred well. 
That from beneath the seat of Jove doth spring. Milton. 
A deep narrow pit of water.—Now up, now down, like 
buckets in a well. Dryden. —The cavity in which stairs are 
placed.—Hollow newelled stairs are made about a square 
hollow newel: suppose the well-ho\e to be eleven foot long, 
and six foot wide, and we would bring up a pair of stairs 
from the first floor eleven foot high, it being intended a sky¬ 
light shall fall through the hollow newel. Moxon. 
To WELL, v. n , [ptallan, Sax.] To spring; to issue as 
from a spring. 
From his two springs. 
Pure welling out, he through the lucid lake 
Of fair Dambea rolls his infant stream. Thomson. 
To WELL, v. a. To pour any thing forth. 
To her people wealth they forth do well, 
And health to every foreign nation. Spenser. 
WELL, adj. [ Well seems to be sometimes an adjective, 
though it is not always easy to determine its relations.] Not 
sick ; being in health. 
Lady, I am not well, else I should answer 
From a full flowing stomach. Shakspeare. 
Happy. 
Mark, we use 
To say the dead are well. Shakspeare. 
Convenient; advantageous.—This exactness is necessary, 
and it would be well too, if it extended itself to common 
conversation. Locke. —Being in favour.—He followed the 
fortunes of that family; and was well with Henry the fourth. 
Dryden. —Recovered from any sickness or misfortune. 
I am sorry 
For your displeasure; but all will sure be well. Shakspeare. 
WELL, adv. [wil, Gothic; pell, Saxon; wel, Dutch; 
vel, Icel.] Not ill; not unhappily. 
Some sense, and more estate, kind heav’n 
To this raciV-lotted peer has given: 
What then ? he must have rule and sway; 
Else all is wrong till he’s in play. Prior. 
Not ill; not wickedly.—My bargains, and well- worn 
thrift he calls interest. Shakspeare. —Skilfully; properly; 
in a laudable manner.—Beware and govern well thy appe¬ 
tite. Milton. —Not amiss; not unsuccessfully; not erro¬ 
neously.—’Tis almost impossible to translate verbally and 
well. Dryden. —Not insufficiently; not defectively..—The 
plain of Jordan was well watered everywhere. Genesis .— 
To a degree that gives pleasure.—I like well, in some places, 
fair columns upon frames of carpenters’ work. Bacon .-— 
With praise; favourably.—All the world speaks well of you. 
Pope. — Well is sometimes like the French bier,, a term of 
concession..—The knot might well be cut, but untied it could 
not be. Sidney. — Conveniently; suitably. 
Know, 
In measure what the mind can well contain. Milton. 
To a sufficient degree : a kind of slight sense.—A private 
caution I know not well how to sort, unless I should call it 
political, by no means to build too near a great neighbour. 
Wot ton. —It is a word by which something is admitted as 
the ground for a conclusion.— Well, let’s away, and say 
how much is done. Shakspeare. — As well as. Together 
with; not less than.—Long and tedious, as well as grievous 
and uneasy courses of physic, how necessary soever to the 
cure, much enfeeble the patient, and reduce him to a low 
and languishing state. Blackmore. — Well is him or me; 
bene est, he is happy..— Well is him that dwelleth with a 
wife of understanding, and that hath not slipped with his 
tongue. Ecclus.—Well nigh. Nearly ; almost.—I freed 
well nigh half the angelic name. Milton. — Well enough. 
In a moderate degree; tolerably. It is used much in com¬ 
position to express any thing right, laudable, or not defec- 
tive. 
IFe/Z-apparelled April on the heel 
Of limping Winter treads. Shakspeare. 
He rails 
On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift, 
Which he calls interest. Shakspeare. 
WELL, a parish of England, in Lincolnshire; If mile 
south-south-west of Alford.—2. A parish of England, North 
Riding of Yorkshire ; 5 miles south of Bedale. 
WE'LLADAY, interject. [This is a corruption of wela¬ 
te ay. See Welaway.] Alas.—O welladay, mistress Ford, 
having an honest man to your husband, to give him such 
cause of suspicion. Shakspeare. 
WELLAND, a parish of England, in Worcestershire, near 
Upton-upon-Severn. 
WELLAND, a river of England; takes its rise in the 
county of Northampton, which it separates from those of 
Leicester, Rutland, and Lincoln. It passes by Market Har- 
borough, Market Deeping, Spalding, &c., below which last 
place it enters the Wash. It is navigable by locks from 
Stamford downwards. 
WELLAND RIVER, formerly called Chippewa, a 
beautiful river of Upper Canada, which falls into the Niagara. 
It flows through a remarkably fertile country for about 40 
miles, and is wholly free from falls. 
WELLBE'ING, s. Happiness; prosperity. 
For whose wellbeing 
So amply, and with hands so liberal. 
Thou hast provided all things. Milton. 
WELLBORN, adj. Not meanly descended. 
Heav’n, that wellborn souls inspires, 
Prompts me through lifted swords, and rising fires. 
To rush undaunted to defend the walls. Dryden. 
WELLBRE'D, adj. Elegant of manners; polite.—Both 
the poets were wellbred and well-natur’d. Dryden. 
WELLCOMBE, a parish of England, in Devonshire; 17 
miles south-west-by-west of Bideford. 
WELLDO'NE, 
