whet

English

Etymology

From Middle English whetten, from Old English hwettan (“to whet, sharpen, incite, encourage”), from Proto-Germanic *hwatjaną (“to incite, sharpen”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷēd- (“sharp”). Cognate with Dutch wetten (“to whet, sharpen”), German wetzen (“to whet, sharpen”), Icelandic hvetja (“to whet, encourage, catalyze”), dialectal Danish hvæde (“to whet”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛt/
  • IPA^(key): /ˈʍɛt/
• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛt/, [ˈwɛ(ʔ)t̚]
  • IPA^(key): /ˈʍɛt/, [ˈʍɛ(ʔ)t̚]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt
• Homophone: wet

Verb

1. (transitive) To hone or rub on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening – see whetstone.
   • c. 1596-97 William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act IV scene i^[1]:

     Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?

   • (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     The mower whets his scythe.

   • (Can we date this quote by Byron and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Here roams the wolf, the eagle whets his beak.

2. (transitive) To stimulate or make more keen.

   to whet one's appetite or one's courage

   • c. 1599 William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act II scene i^[2]:

     Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, / I have not slept.

   • 1925-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated by Mahadev Desai, Part I, chapter xv^[3]:

     My faith in vegetarianism grew on me from day to day. Salt's book whetted my appetite for dietetic studies. I went in for all books available on vegetarianism and read them.

   • 2003-10-20, Naomi Wolf, "The Porn Myth", New York Magazine

     In the end, porn doesn’t whet men’s appetites—it turns them off the real thing.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To preen.

Derived terms

• whetter (rare)
• whetstone

Translations

hone or rub on with some substance for the purpose of sharpening

• Belarusian: тачы́ць impf (tačýcʹ)
• Catalan: esmolar (ca)
• Dutch: wetten (nl), slijpen (nl), scherpen (nl)
• French: aiguiser (fr)
• German: wetzen (de)
• Hungarian: köszörül (hu)
• Irish: faobhraigh
• Italian: affilare (it)
• Latin: acuō
• Luxembourgish: wetzen, schläifen, schäerfen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: oroi
• Portuguese: amolar (pt), afiar (pt)
• Romanian: ascuţi (ro)
• Russian: точи́ть (ru) (točítʹ), пра́вить (ru) (právitʹ)
• Spanish: afilar (es)
• Swedish: slipa (sv), skärpa (sv), fila (sv)
• Tamil: இடங்கம் (ta) (iṭaṅkam)
• Thai: ลับ (th) (láp)
• Ukrainian: точи́ти impf (točýty)

stimulate or make more keen

• Dutch: wetten (nl), scherpen (nl)
• Italian: stimolare (it), stuzzicare (it)
• Maori: whakapuku
• Portuguese: aguçar (pt), estimular (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: aţâţa (ro)
• Russian: возбужда́ть (ru) (vozbuždátʹ), обостря́ть (ru) (obostrjátʹ), разжигать (ru) (razžigatʹ)
• Spanish: estimular (es)

Noun

whet (plural whets)

1. The act of whetting something.
2. That which whets or sharpens; especially, an appetizer.
   • (Can we date this quote by Spectator and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     sips, drams, and whets

Anagrams

• thew