wen
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English wen, wenne, from Old English wenn, wænn (“wen”), from Proto-Germanic *wanjaz. Cognate with Dutch wen (“goiter”), Low German Ween (“wen”), dialectal German Wenne (“wen”), Danish van, væne.
Noun
wen (plural wens)
- A cyst on the skin.
- 1854, Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Walden:
- When I have met an immigrant tottering under a bundle which contained his all--looking like an enormous wen which had grown out of the nape of his neck--I have pitied him, not because that was his all, but because he had all that to carry.
- 1973, Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow:
- Creeps, foreigners with tinted, oily skin, wens, sties, cysts, wheezes, bad teeth, limps, staring or—worse—with Strange Faraway Smiles.
- 1996, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest, Abacus 2013, p. 4:
- I am debating whether to risk scratching the right side of my jaw, where there is a wen.
- 1854, Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Walden:
Translations
Etymology 2
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English wynn
Noun
wen (plural wens)
- a runic letter later replaced by w
Etymology 3
Eye dialect spelling of when.
Adverb
wen (not comparable)
- (eye dialect) Alternative spelling of when
Conjunction
wen
- (eye dialect) Alternative spelling of when
Pronoun
wen
- (eye dialect) Alternative spelling of when
Noun
wen (uncountable)
- (eye dialect) Alternative spelling of when
Anagrams
Afrikaans
Etymology
From Dutch winnen, from Middle Dutch winnen, from Old Dutch winnan, from Proto-Germanic *winnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wen- (“to strive, desire, wish, love”).
Pronunciation
Verb
wen (present wen, present participle wennende, past participle gewen)
- to win
Dutch
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Proto-Germanic *hwannē. Cognate with English when, German wann.
Adverb
wen
- (archaic) when
- En ik dacht aan den geur harer bloesems, aan het huiveren harer takken, aan den zang harer vogelen; en ik vroeg mij: wen rieken wij die? (V. Someren, 1822)
- And I thought about the scent of her blossoms, at the shuddering of her branches, at the songs of her birds, and I asked myself: when do we smell these?
- En ik dacht aan den geur harer bloesems, aan het huiveren harer takken, aan den zang harer vogelen; en ik vroeg mij: wen rieken wij die? (V. Someren, 1822)
Conjunction
wen
- (archaic) when
- Daar heb ik wen de vogels vlogen, heimelik in elk nest geschouwd! (L. De Mont, 1880)
- There have I, when the birds flew, looked privily in each nest!
- Daar heb ik wen de vogels vlogen, heimelik in elk nest geschouwd! (L. De Mont, 1880)
Etymology 2
Verb
wen
- (deprecated template usage) first-person singular present indicative of wennen
- (deprecated template usage) imperative of wennen
Elfdalian
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronoun
wen
German
Pronunciation
Pronoun
wen
- (interrogative) accusative of wer: whom (direct object).
- Wen hast du gefragt?
- Whom did you ask?
- Wen hast du gefragt?
Further reading
- “wen” in Duden online
Gothic
Romanization
wēn
- Romanization of 𐍅𐌴𐌽
Japanese
Romanization
wen
Mandarin
Romanization
wen
- Nonstandard spelling of wēn.
- Nonstandard spelling of wén.
- Nonstandard spelling of wěn.
- Nonstandard spelling of wèn.
Usage notes
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Middle English
Noun
wen
- Alternative form of wayn (“wagon”)
Old English
Alternative forms
- ƿēn — wynn spelling
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *wēniz, from Proto-Indo-European *wen- (“love”). Cognate with Old Frisian wen, Old Saxon wan, Old High German wān (German Wahn (“delusion”)), Old Norse ván, Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌽𐍃 (wēns).
Pronunciation
Noun
wēn f
Declension
Descendants
Welsh
Adjective
wen
Mutation
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɛn
- English terms with homophones
- English terms inherited from Middle English
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- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
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- English nouns
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- English eye dialect
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- English conjunctions
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- Afrikaans terms inherited from Middle Dutch
- Afrikaans terms derived from Middle Dutch
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Old Dutch
- Afrikaans terms derived from Old Dutch
- Afrikaans terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Afrikaans terms derived from Proto-Germanic
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- Elfdalian lemmas
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- German terms with IPA pronunciation
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- Gothic non-lemma forms
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- Mandarin pinyin
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- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
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