wend

See also Wend

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛnd

Etymology

From Middle English wenden, from Old English wendan (“to turn, direct, wend one’s way, go, return, change, alter, vary, restore, happen, convert, translate”), from Proto-Germanic *wandijanan (“to turn”), causative of Proto-Germanic *windanan (“to wind”), from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, wind, braid”). Cognate with Dutch wenden (“to turn”), German wenden (“to turn, reverse”), Danish vende (“to turn”), Swedish vända (“to turn, turn over, veer, direct”), Icelandic venda (“to wend, turn, change”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wandjan, “to cause to turn”). Related to wind.

Verb

wend (third-person singular simple present wends, present participle wending, simple past and past participle wended or archaic went)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To turn; change.
2. (transitive) To direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon.
3. (intransitive, obsolete) To turn; make a turn; go round; veer.
4. (transitive or intransitive) To go or proceed along some course or way.

   We wended our weary way westward

5. (intransitive, obsolete) To pass away; disappear; depart; vanish.

Usage notes

The modern past tense of wend is wended. Originally it was went. However, went has come to be the past tense of go, and using it as the past tense of wend is now considered archaic.

Synonyms

• to betake oneself

Related terms

• wind

References

• wend in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

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Dutch

Verb

wend

1. first-person singular present indicative of wenden.
2. imperative of wenden.