wee

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

wee

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• enPR: wē, IPA^(key): /wiː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː
• Homophones: oui, we, whee (in accents with the wine-whine merger), Wii

Etymology 1

From Middle English wey, weygh, wegh, weȝe, wæȝe (“little bit”), from Old English wǣġ, wǣġe (“weight”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāgu, from Proto-Germanic *wēgō (“scales, weight”) and *wēgǭ (“weight”), related to Middle English weġan (“to move, weigh”) (15c).

Adjective

wee (comparative weer, superlative weest)

1. (Scotland, Ireland, Northern England, New Zealand, Ottawa Valley, Mid-Ulster) Small, little.
   • 1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 275:

     The beat of its wee heart held against her own, sent her intense maternity surging like the spring sap in a young tree.

   • 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin, published 2009, page 73:

     I had not seen a wee boy do it like that before. He was weer than me and his swimming was just like splashing about.

   You looked a little cold, so I lit a wee fire.

Derived terms

• wee folk
• wee heavy
• wee hours
• wee small hours

Translations

Noun

wee

1. A short time or short distance.

References

• Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary: Tenth Edition (1997)

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic for the sound of urination. The noun derives from the verb.

Noun

wee (countable and uncountable, plural wees)

1. (colloquial, uncountable) Urine.
2. (colloquial, countable) An act of urination.

   I need to have a wee.

Synonyms

• (all senses): wee-wee
• (urine): See Thesaurus:urine
• (urination): See Thesaurus:urination

Translations

Verb

wee (third-person singular simple present wees, present participle weeing, simple past and past participle weed)

1. (UK, colloquial) To urinate.

   I need to wee! I can't hold it any longer!

   • 2011 March 15, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic):

     When I was young, I was up every night until the wee hours. Now I'm up every hour at night to wee.

Synonyms

• wee-wee, see also Thesaurus:urinate

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

• see we

Pronoun

wee (personal pronoun)

1. obsolete emphatic of we
   • 1645, John Milton, Tetrachordon:

     Yet lest wee should be Capernaitans, as wee are told there that the flesh profiteth nothing, so wee are told heer, if we be not as deaf as adders, that this union of the flesh proceeds from the union of a fit help and solace.

See also

Anagrams

• Ewe, eew, ewe

Afar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈweː/,
• Hyphenation: wee

Verb

wée (autobenefactive weyité)

1. (transitive) lack
2. (transitive) miss
3. (auxiliary) Used to form the negative of some moods and aspects.

Conjugation

References

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “wee”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *wē, from Proto-West Germanic *wai, from Proto-Germanic *wai.

Compare Old English wā (English woe), Old High German wē (German weh), Old Norse vei.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ʋeː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Adjective

wee (not comparable)

1. nauseating

Inflection

Noun

wee f (plural weeën, diminutive weetje n)

1. contraction during labour or childbirth

   De weeën beginnen!

   The contractions are starting!

2. (archaic) sorrow, sadness, pain, woe (used in interjections of despair or annoyance)

   O wee, wat zal er van ons worden.

   Oh woe, what shall become of us.

Derived terms

• (sorrow): o wee, ach en wee, heimwee

Anagrams

• Ewe

Kikuyu

Pronoun

wee (second person singular)

1. Alternative spelling of we (“you, thou”)

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *wē, from Proto-West Germanic *wai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /weː/

Interjection

wêe

1. woe!

Descendants

• Dutch: wee

Adjective

wêe

1. unpleasant, painful

Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: wee

Noun

wêe f

1. pain

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: wee
• Limburgish: wieë

Further reading

• “wee”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “wee (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

Middle English

Noun

wee

1. Alternative form of we (“woe”)

Scots

Etymology

From Old English wēġ(e), wǣġ (unit of weight).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wiː/

Adjective

wee (comparative weer, superlative weest)

1. (standard, Ulster) small, little, tiny

Yola

Etymology 1

From Middle English wiþ, from Old English wiþ.

Alternative forms

• wie, wi, wi', w', wough

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wiː/, /w/, /wuː/
• Homophone: wye

Preposition

wee

1. with
   • 1867, “THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2, page 94:

     Wee aar lhaung vlealès an pikkès, to waaite apan a breede.

     With their long flails and picks, to wait upon the bride.

   • 1867, “THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3, page 94:

     Aar was lhaung kaayle an nettles, ee-mixt wee prasaugh buee,

     There was long kale and nettles, mingled with yellow-weed,

   • 1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 98:

     Tibbès an crockès wee drink war ee-felt.

   • 1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2, page 100:

     Craneen t' thee wee aam, thee luggès shell aake.

     Choking to thee with them. Thy ears shall ache.

   • 1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3, page 100:

     Risheenearès! Leth aam gaame wee aar barish-amang,

     Snack-eaters! let them game, with their barley-mung.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Pronoun

wee

1. Alternative form of wough (“we”)
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 59:

     Note will wee dra aaght to-die?

     I don't know will we draw any to-day?

   • 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 114, lines 1-3:

     Wee, Vassalès o' 'His Most Gracious Majesty,' Wilyame ee Vourthe,

     We, the subjects of his Most Gracious Majesty, William IV.,

   • 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 114, lines 14-15:

     Mang ourzels——var wee dwytheth an Irelonde az ure generale haime——

     Unto ourselves——for we look on Ireland to be our common country——

   • 1867, CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 116, lines 8-9:

     wee hert ee zough o'ye colure o' pace na name o' Mulgrave.

     we heard the distant sound of the wings of the dove of peace, in the word Mulgrave.

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 77

Yoruba

Etymology

Clipping of ìwé. Cognates with Yoruba èyí, Ìkálẹ̀ Yoruba ìyí

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wèé/

Determiner

wèé

1. (Ijebu) this

Related terms

• ìwé (“this”)
• ọ̀wọ̀nwé (“these”)
• wọ̀nwé (“this”)
• ọ̀wọ̀nyẹ̀n (“those”)
• wọ̀nyẹ̀n (“those”)
• ìyẹ̀n (“that”)
• yẹ̀n (“that”)