weld

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɛld/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Homophone: welled
• Rhymes: -ɛld

Etymology 1

From Middle English welde, wolde, from Old English *weald, weard, variant form of wād, Proto-West Germanic *waiʀd, from Proto-Germanic *waizdaz. Alternatively reborrowed from or contaminated by Anglo-Norman wold, wolde (compare Old French guaide). Doublet of woad. Dutch wouw is derived from the same basic form with -l-.

Alternative forms

• woald, wold

Noun

weld

1. A herb (Reseda luteola) related to mignonette, growing in Europe, and to some extent in America, used to make a yellow dye.
2. The yellow coloring matter or dye extracted from this plant.

Synonyms

• (Reseda luteola): dyer's rocket; dyer's weed; wild woad

Translations

Etymology 2

Alteration of well (“boil, rise”), probably influenced by the past participle, welled.

Verb

weld (third-person singular simple present welds, present participle welding, simple past and past participle welded)

1. (transitive) To join two materials (especially two metals) together by applying heat, pressure and filler, either separately or in any combination.
2. (transitive) To bind together inseparably; to unite closely or intimately.

   The arrows pierced through the welded ranks of the opposing army.

   • 1847, Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Princess:

     Now should men see / Two women faster welded in one love / Than pairs of wedlock.

   • 1951 April, D. S. Barrie, “British Railways: A Survey, 1948-1950”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 223:

     The organisational and administrative tasks involved in welding the railways into a single entity have also received much publicity.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

weld (plural welds)

1. The joint made by welding.
   • 2001, James E. Duffy, I-Car Professional Automotive Collision Repair, page 173:

     Excessive spot weld time may cause the electrode tips to mushroom, resulting in no focus of current and a weak weld.

Derived terms

• butt weld
• scarf weld

Translations

See also

• braze
• solder

Etymology 3

From Old English weald (sense 2).

Verb

weld (third-person singular simple present welds, present participle welding, simple past and past participle welded)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To wield.
   • 1485: Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte D'Arthur, p. 168 line 2 (Sommer edition)

     "he that alle the world weldeth gyue the ſorte lyf & ſameful dethe" ("He who wields all the world gives thee short life and shameful death")

   • 1485: Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte D'Arthur, p. 172 line 2 (Sommer edition)

     "ye be worthy to welde all your honour and worship"

   • 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], The Shepheardes Calender: , London: Hugh Singleton, , →OCLC; reprinted as H Oskar Sommer, editor, The Shepheardes Calender , London: John C. Nimmo, , 1890, →OCLC:

     Turne thee to those that weld the awfull crowne

References

• “weld”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• WLED, lewd

Central Franconian

Alternative forms

• well (chiefly Moselle Franconian)

Etymology

From Middle High German wilde, from Old High German wildi, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþī, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋelt/

Adjective

weld (masculine welle or welde, feminine and plural well or weld or welde, comparative weller or welder, superlative et weldste)

1. (chiefly Ripuarian) wild

Usage notes

• The traditional inflections are those with -ll- in all dialects. However, those with -ld- are now predominant in some dialects under standard German influence.

Middle English

Noun

weld

1. (Southern) Alternative form of wold

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɛld/

Verb

weld

1. Soft mutation of gweld (“to see”).

Mutation