wimplen

Middle English

Alternative forms

• wimplin, wymple

Etymology

From wympel (“a veil, cover, hood”) +‎ -en; compare Middle Dutch wimpelen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwimplən/

Verb

wimplen (third-person singular simple present wimpleth, present participle wimplende, wimplynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle wimpled)

1. To conceal (especially with a headcovering or wimple)

   • With fayre honyed wordes heretykes and mis-meninge people skleren and wimplen their errours. — Testament of Love, Thomas Usk

2. (rare) To enter into a ritual involving the wimple being put upon oneself.

   • Rea entred into relegioun, For to be wympled in that hooli hous Sacred to Vesta ... duryng al hir liff. — Fall of Princes, John Lydgate, c1439

3. (rare) To bend or wrap over itself; to cover while folding.

   • Take soft lynnen cloth & wrape and wymple it togeder and lay it ouer þe wound — Medical Recipes, c1450

Conjugation

Conjugation of wimplen (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) wimplen, wimple
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	wimple	wimpled
2nd-person singular	wimplest	wimpledest
3rd-person singular	wimpleth	wimpled
subjunctive singular	wimple
imperative singular		—
plural1	wimplen, wimple	wimpleden, wimplede
imperative plural	wimpleth, wimple	—
participles	wimplynge, wimplende	wimpled, ywimpled

¹Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: wimple

References

• “wimplen (v.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-19.