wand

English

Etymology

From Middle English wand, wond, from Old Norse vǫndr (“switch, twig”), from Proto-Germanic *wanduz (“rod”), from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, twist, wind, braid”). Cognate with Icelandic vendi (“wand”), Danish vånd (“wand, switch”), German Wand (“wall, septum”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃 (wandus, “rod”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: wŏnd, IPA^(key): /wɒnd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /wɑnd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒnd

Noun

wand (plural wands)

1. A hand-held narrow rod, usually used for pointing or instructing, or as a traditional emblem of authority.
   • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

     Then all of a sudden a number of armed men arranged in companies, and marshalled by officers who held ivory wands in their hands, came running swiftly towards us, having, so far as I could make out, emerged from the face of the precipice like ants from their burrows.

2. (by extension) An instrument shaped like a wand, such as a curling wand.
3. A stick or rod used by a magician (a magic wand), conjurer or diviner (divining rod).
   • 1859, George Meredith, chapter 13, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. , volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC:

     Love is that blessed wand which wins the waters from the hardness of the heart.

4. A stick, branch, or stalk, especially of willow.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     The skillful shepherd peeled me certain wands.

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 17:

     In addition to the distinction of a white frock, every woman and girl carried in her right hand a peeled willow-wand, and in her left a bunch of white flowers.

5. A card of a particular suit of the minor arcana in tarot, the wands.

Synonyms

• staff; rod
• See also Thesaurus:stick

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

wand (third-person singular simple present wands, present participle wanding, simple past and past participle wanded)

1. (transitive) To scan (e.g. a passenger at an airport) with a handheld metal detector.
2. (transitive) To use a handheld vibrator (the sex toy) on (a person or body part).

Derived terms

• handwand

References

Anagrams

• Dawn, Dwan, dawn

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch want, from Proto-Germanic *wanduz (“wickerwork; barrier, fence”). Cognate with German Wand.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋɑnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: wand
• Rhymes: -ɑnt
• Homophone: want

Noun

wand m (plural wanden, diminutive wandje n)

1. wall

   De wand van het gebouw is bedekt met graffiti.

   The wall of the building is covered with graffiti.

   Er zijn schilderijen op elke wand van de galerij.

   There are paintings on every wall of the gallery.

   Het wandje in de tuin is versierd met klimplanten.

   The small wall in the garden is decorated with climbing plants.

2. face (as in mountain face)

   De wand van de berg is erg steil.

   The face of the mountain is very steep.

   Hij is van plan de noordelijke wand van de Eiger te beklimmen.

   He plans to climb the north face of the Eiger.

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: wand
• Negerhollands: wand

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ant

Verb

wand

1. first/third-person singular preterite of winden

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɑnd/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *wanduz (“mole”), from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, twist, wind, braid”).

Noun

wand f

1. mole (animal)

Declension

Derived terms

• wandeweorpe

Etymology 2

From windan.

Verb

wand

1. first/third-person singular preterite of windan