wield

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See also: WIELD

English

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.

Verb

wield (third-person singular simple present wields, present participle wielding, simple past and past participle wielded)

  1. (obsolete) To command, rule over; to possess or own.
    • 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum 7”, in , book V, by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H 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)
      There was never a king other than myself who ever commanded such knights.
  2. (obsolete) To control, to guide or manage.
  3. (obsolete) To carry out, to bring about.
  4. To handle with skill and ease, especially a weapon or tool.
  5. To exercise (authority or influence) effectively.
Derived terms
Translations

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)

  1. 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

  1. ^ wield, verb.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2021.

Anagrams

Saterland Frisian

Adjective

wield (masculine wielden, feminine, plural or definite wielde)

  1. alternative spelling of wíeld

Scots

Etymology

From Old English wieldan (to control), a derivative of wealdan (to govern), from Proto-West Germanic *waldan. Cognate with German walten, Swedish vålla.

Pronunciation

Verb

wield

  1. To control, to guide or manage.