wield
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Old English wieldan (“to control”), a derivative of wealdan "to govern", from Germanic *walt-. Cognate with German walten, Swedish vålla. Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian ul (“to put down, lower, abate, submit”).
Pronunciation [edit]
- Homophone: wheeled (in accents with the wine-whine merger)
Verb [edit]
wield (third-person singular simple present wields, present participle wielding, simple past and past participle wielded)
- (obsolete) To command, rule over; to possess or own.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book V:
- There was never kyng sauff myselff that welded evir such knyghtes.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book V:
- (obsolete) To control, to guide or manage.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.10:
- With such his chearefull speaches he doth wield / Her mind so well, that to his will she bends […].
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.10:
- To handle with skill and ease, especially of a weapon or tool.
- To exercise (authority or influence) effectively.
Translations [edit]
to exercise authority or influence
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Anagrams [edit]
Scots [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Old English wieldan (“to control”), a derivative of wealdan "to govern", from Germanic *walt-. Cognate with German walten, Swedish vålla.
Pronunciation [edit]
- IPA: /wiːld/
Verb [edit]
wield