wield

See also: WIELD

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: wēld, IPA^(key): /wiːld/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːld
• Homophones: wealed, Weald, weald; wheeled (wine–whine merger)

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 [Le Morte Darthur], book V, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] 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)

2. (obsolete) To control, to guide or manage.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     With such his chearefull speaches he doth wield / Her mind so well, that to his will she bends […].

3. (obsolete) To carry out, to bring about.
   • a. 1513, Virgil, “VIII, prologue”, in Gawin Douglas [i.e., Gavin Douglas], transl., edited by [George Dundas], 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.

4. To handle with skill and ease, especially a weapon or tool.
5. To exercise (authority or influence) effectively.

Derived terms

• bewield
• wieldsome
• wieldy

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)
• 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

• Bulgarian: боравя (bg) (boravja)
• Catalan: fer anar
• Dutch: hanteren (nl)
• Finnish: käyttää (fi), käsitellä (fi)
• French: brandir (fr)
• German: führen (de)
• Hungarian: forgat (hu)
• Irish: láimhsigh
• Italian: brandire (it)
• Maori: mau, whakarere
• Occitan: brandir (oc), manejar (oc)
• Portuguese: empunhar (pt), brandir (pt), manusear (pt)
• Serbo-Croatian: rukovati (sh)
• Spanish: blandir (es), empuñar (es)
• Welsh: trin (cy)

to exercise authority or influence

• Bulgarian: упражнявам контрол (upražnjavam kontrol)
• Catalan: exercir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 行使 (zh) (xíngshǐ)

• Dutch: uitoefenen (nl)
• Finnish: hallita (fi)
• French: exercer (fr)
• German: ausüben (de)
• Hungarian: gyakorol (hu)
• Irish: feidhmigh
• Occitan: exercir (oc)
• Old English: wealdan
• Portuguese: exercer (pt)
• Russian: вла́ствовать (ru) impf (vlástvovatʹ) (+ instrumental case), облада́ть (ru) impf (obladátʹ) (+ instrumental case)
• Serbo-Croatian: vlastovati, vladati (sh)
• Spanish: ejercer (es), regir (es)

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

• welde, weild, weelde (obsolete)

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.

Anagrams

• dwile, Wilde, wilde, wiled

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

• IPA^(key): /wiːld/

Verb

wield

1. To control, to guide or manage.