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wield. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
wield, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
wield in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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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)
- (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 a king other than myself who ever commanded such knights.
- (obsolete) To control, to guide or manage.
- (obsolete) To carry out, to bring about.
a. 1513, Virgil, “VIII, prologue”, in Gawin Douglas , transl., edited by , 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
- Bulgarian: владея (bg) (vladeja)
- Catalan: manejar (ca), manipular (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 使用 (zh) (shǐyòng), 運用 / 运用 (zh) (yùnyòng)
- Czech: ovládat (cs) impf, zvládat impf, zvládnout (cs) pf
- Dutch: beheersen (nl)
- Estonian: valdama, oskama, valitsema
- Finnish: hallita (fi)
- French: manier (fr)
- German: beherrschen (de)
- Greek: χειρίζομαι (el) (cheirízomai)
- Hungarian: kezel (hu)
- Icelandic: beita
- Irish: oibrigh
- Italian: maneggiare (it), padroneggiare (it)
- Japanese: 使いこなす (ja) (tukai-konasu)
- Maori: mau
- Occitan: manejar (oc), gaubejar (oc), mestrejar (oc)
- Old English: wealdan
- Portuguese: manusear (pt)
- Russian: владе́ть (ru) impf (vladétʹ) (+ instrumental case), ору́довать (ru) impf (orúdovatʹ) (+ instrumental case)
- Serbo-Croatian: vladati (sh)
- Spanish: manejar (es), manipular (es)
- Swedish: svinga (sv), hantera (sv)
|
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”).
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
Anagrams
Saterland Frisian
Adjective
wield (masculine wielden, feminine, plural or definite wielde)
- 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
- To control, to guide or manage.