wivern (wivern)

[Also wy vern; a later form, with unorig. -n as in bittern, of wiver: see wiver.] In her., a monster whose fore part is that of a dragon with its fore legs and wings, while the hinder part has the form of a serpent with a barbed tail. Wivern. Lakes which, when morn breaks on their quivering bed, Blaze like a wyvern flying round the sun. Browning , Para cels us. wives, n. Plural of wife . wizard (wiz'ärd), n . and a . [Formerly also wis ard , wi ard ; wisard , wysard , wysar ; prob. an altered form, a imilated initially to the ult. related wise , for * wishard (preserved in the surnames Wishart , Wisheart , Wi et ), chard , prob. orig. form of OF. guischard , guis Prior , Henry and Emma. card, guiscart , F. dial. (Norm.) guichard , saga Putten ham , Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 170. Sir Ellis Layton, whom I find a wonderful witty , ready man for sudden answers and little tales, and sayings very extraordinary witty. Pepys , Diary, III. 92. In gentle Verse the Witty told their Flame, And grac'd their choicest Song with Emma's Name. Chapman, Masque of Middle Temple and Lincoln's Inn. See how from far, upon the eastern road, The star-led wisards haste with odours sweet. wizet. An old spelling of wisel , wise2 . wizen1 (wiz'n), a . [Also weazen , and formerly wizzen , wisen ; wisen , * wisen = Icel. visinn = Sw. Dan. vi en , withered, dried up; pp. of a lost verb, AS. as if * wis an , dry up. Hence wizen1, v.] Hard, dry, and shriveled; withered. A gay little wizen old man, in appearance, from the East- IMG:content-2497.jpg:[blocks in formation] wlonct, wlonkt, a . and n. [ME., wlanc , wodne t, n. An obsolete form of woodne . wlonk (= OS. wlanc ), proud, splendid.] I. a . Fine; grand; fair; beautiful. Whyle the wlonkest wedes he warp on hym-seluen. Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 2025. II. n . A fair woman; a fine lady. Thane I went to that wlonke , and wynly hire gretis, And cho said, "Welcome i-wis! wele arte thow fowndene." Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3339. W. N. W. An abbreviation of west-northwest. wo, interj . and n. See woe . woad (wod), n . [Also dial. wad (and ode ); wood , wad , wad , waad =OFries. wed = D. weede , weed = MLG. wet , we it, wede = OHG. MHG. we it , G. waid , wait = Sw. vejde = Dan. vaid , veid = Goth. * waid a (cf. wiz- dila , woad; ML. guaisdium , > OF. waisde , waide , gaide , F. guède = It. guado , woad), akin to L. vitrum , woad: root unknown; no connection with weldl , which has a var. wold .] A cruciferous plant, Is at is tinct or i a , for- merly much cultivated in Great Britain on aс- count of the blue dye ex- tracted from its pulped and fermented leaves. It is now, however, nearly super- seded by indigo, which gives a stronger and finer blue. It is still cultivated in some parts of Europe, and the dye which it furnishes is said to improve the quality and color of indigo when mixed with it in a certain proportion. The ancient Brit- ons are said to have stained their bodies with the dye pro- cured from the woad-plant. No mader, welde, or wood [var. wod ] no lite stere IMG:content-2498.png:[blocks in formation] Then the monster, then the man; Tattoo'd or woaded , winter-clad in skins. Tennyson, Prince , ii. ture of woad with other dyes. Thus I have heard our merchants complain that the set up blues have made strangers loathe the rich woaded blues. S. Ward , Sermons, p. 77. woad-mill (wōd'mil), n. A mill for bruising and preparing woad. woadwaxen (wōd'wak"sn), n . The dyers' green- weed, Genista tinct or i a . See Genista (with cut). Y cart y-lade wt wodewexen to sale. O ill befa' your wizzen'd snout! English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 358. Gight's Lady (Child's Ballads, VIII. 290). wobble, v . and n. See wabble1 . A shoemaker's lad With wizened face in want of soap. wobbler, n. See wabbler . Browning , Christmas Eve. wobbly, a . See wabbly . wlatet, v. i. and t. [ME. wlaten , wlætian , loathe.] To feel disgust; loathe; abominate. So the worcher of this worlde wlates ther-wyth That in the poynt of her play he poruayes a mynde. wlatsomet, wlatsomt, a. [ wlatsom , wlat- sum , loathsome, abominable, ulate ( wlætte ), nausea, disgust, + -som, E. -some .] Loathsome; detestable; hateful. For thoug the soule haue thi lijknes, Man is but wlatsum erthe and clay. Mordre is so wlatsom and abhominable To God, that is so just and res on able, That he ne wol nat suffre it heled be. wod, n. An obsolete or dialectal form of woad . wodelt, n. A Middle English form of wood1 . wode2t, n. An obsolete spelling of woad . Prompt . Parv . wodegeldt, n. [ME., wode , wood, + geld , pay- ment: see wood and geld2 , n.] A payment for wood. IMG:content-2499.png:[graphic] IMG:content-2500.jpg:[blocks in formation] It is also used in exclamations of sorrow, in such cases the noun or pronoun following being really in the dative. Woe is me! for I am undone. Isa. vi. Woe was the knight at this severe command. Dryden, Wife of Bath, L. 108. An' aye the o'ercome o' his sang Was " Wae 's me for Prince Charlie!" He was full wo , and gan his former griefe renew. Spenser, F. Q., IV. i. 38 Childe Waters was a woe man, good Lord, To see faire Ellen swim me! Thow farest ek by me, thow Pandar us! As he that, whan a wight is wo - bygon , He cometh to him apaas, and seith right thus: "Thynke nat on smerte and thow shalt fele none!" Coumfort hem that careful been, And helpe hem that ben woo bigoon . Even such a man, so faint, so spiritle , So dull, so dead in look, so woe - begone , Drew Priam's curtain in the dead of night. wodelyt, adv . A variant of woodly . Woden (wo'den), n. [ME. Woden , Woden =OHG. Wodan , Wuotan = Icel. Othinn , a Teut. deity, lit. the 'furious,' the 'mighty warrior'; from a root appearing in AS. wōd , mad, furious (see wood2 ). The AS. Woden , which would reg. In early use the two words are sometimes separated. give a mod. E. * Wooden , is present in Wednes- day, and in many compound local names, such as Woodnesborough, Wedneshough , Wednesbury , Wins borough, Wisborow, Wednesfield , Wansford , Wanstead, Wansley , etc.] The Anglo-Saxon form of the name of the deity called by the Norse Odin. Wodenism (wō'den-izm), n . [ Woden + -ism .] The worship of Woden. Wodenism was so completely vanquished that even the coming of the Danes failed to revive it. Wo was this wrecched woman tho bigoon . Chaucer, Man of Law's Tale, 1. 820. woeful, woful (wo'ful), a. [Sc. waeful ; woful , wofull ; woe + -ful .] 1. Full of woe; distre ed with grief or calamity; afflicted; sor- rowful. O verrey goost, that errest to and fro! Whi niltow flen out of the wofulleste Body that evere myght on grounde go? IMG:content-2501.jpg:[blocks in formation] 2. Relating or pertaining to woe; expre ing wold2, n. See weld1. woe; characterized by sorrow or woe; deplorwold3t, woldet. Obsolete forms of would . See able. She... sings extemporally a woeful ditty. Shak ., Venus and Adonis, 1. 836. A Trumpet shall sound from Heaven in woful and ter Howell , Letters, iv. 43. rible Manner. He [Lord Ranelagh) died hard, as their term of art is here, to expre the woful state of men who discover no religion at their death. Swift . O, woeful day! O, day of woe to me! willl. woldestowt. A Middle English form of would est thou. wolf (wulf), n .; pl. wolves (wùlvz). [ wolf , wulf , wlf , wife (pl. wolves , wulves , wolwes, wulfes ), wulf (pl. wulfas ) = OS. wulf = OFries. wolf = D. wolf = MLG. LG. wulf = OHG. MHG. G. wolf = Icel. ülfr (for * vulfr ) = Sw. ulf = Dan. 3. Wretched; paltry; mean; pitiful. What woful stuff this madrigal would be! Pope, E ay on Criticism, 1. 418. =Syn. 2. Mournful, calamitous, disastrous, afflictive, miserable, grievous. See woe . woefully, wofully (wō'fül-i), adv . In a woeful manner. Which now among you, who lament so wofully,... has suffered as he suffered? V. Knox, Works, VI., serm. v. It is a fact of which many seem wofully ignorant. instrument. Sometimes called wolf -note.-6. A wooden fence placed acro a ditch in the corner of a field, to prevent cattle from straying into another field by means of the ditch. Hall i well. [Local, Eng.] -7. Same as willow2. E. H. Knight. - Barking wolf, the coyote or prairie wolf of North America, Canis latrans. See cut under coyote. - Black wolf, a melanistic variety of the common wolf, found in southerly parts of United States. Dark as a wolf's mouth or throat, pitch-dark. Scott. - Golden wolf, the Tibetan wolf, Canis laniger. Also called chanco. Gray wolf. See def. 1.- Indian wolf, a certain Asiatic wolf, Canis pallipes, somewhat like a jackal.- Marine wolf, in her. See marine.-Pied wolf. See pied. - Red wolf, a reddish or erythritic variety of the common wolf, found in the United States. - Strand wolf. See strand - wolf. - Tasmanian wolf, a marsupial of Tasmania, the thylacine dasyure, Thylacinus cynocephalus: same as zebra - wolf. See cut under thylacine. - To cry wolf, to raise a false alarm: in allusion to the shepherd boy in a well-known fable. -To have a wolf by the ears, to have a difficult task. He found himself so intrigued that it was like a wolf by the ears; he could neither hold it nor let it go; and, for