wield
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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See also: WIELD
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English wēlden, which combines forms from two closely related verbs: Old English wealdan (“to control, rule”) (strong class 7) and Old English wieldan (“to control, subdue”) (weak). Both verbs ultimately derive from Proto-West Germanic *waldan, from Proto-Germanic *waldaną (“to rule”).
The reason for the merger was that in Middle English the -d in the stem made it hard to distinguish between strong and weak forms in the past tense.[1]
Verb
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.
- 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum 7”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book V, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:
- There was never kyng sauff myselff that welded evir such knyghtes.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- (obsolete) To control, to guide or manage.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- With such his chearefull speaches he doth wield / Her mind so well, that to his will she bends […].
- (obsolete) To carry out, to bring about.
- a. 1513, Virgil, “VIII, prologue”, in Gawin Douglas [i.e., Gavin Douglas], transl., edited by [George Dundas], The Æneid of Virgil: Translated into Scottish Verse (Bannatyne Club, Publications; 64, no. 1), volume I, Edinburgh: T. Constable, printer, published 1839, →OCLC, page 448, line 1:
- All is weill done, God wate, weild he hys will.
- To handle with skill and ease, especially a weapon or tool.
- To exercise (authority or influence) effectively.
Derived terms
Translations
to handle with skill and ease
|
to handle or use a weapon
|
to exercise authority or influence
|
Etymology 2
From Middle English welde, from Old English *wield, ġewield (“power, control, dominion”), from Proto-West Germanic *waldi, from Proto-Germanic *waldiz (“power, might, control”).
Alternative forms
Noun
wield (countable and uncountable, plural wields)
- Rule, command; power, control, wielding.
- 1872, George Francis Savage-Armstrong, The tragedy of Israel, volume 2, page 64:
- What boots it if I beat the heathen home,
And fold the mountains in my wield, and fire […]
- 1887, Richard Wagner, Siegfried:
- […] telling him of the treasures concealed in the cave, of the mysterious ring and tarnhelmet, possessing which he can hold the wield of the world.
- 1968, John Allen, Masters of British Drama, page 32:
- All wealth in my wield is, I know by my wit […]
- 2019, Lele Iturrioz, Summer:
- “Trust me, I will make them listen,” he hissed and for the first time, he used his wield fallaciously, because instead of giving life, he absorbed it from the tree.
References
- “wield, verb.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2021.
Anagrams
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