English Explanatory Dictionary

wench

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one.
  2. A girl or young woman of a lower class.
  3. Used as a term of endearment for a female person, especially a wife, daughter, or girlfriend: darling, sweetheart.
  4. A woman servant; a maidservant.
  5. A promiscuous woman; a mistress (“other woman in an extramarital relationship”).
  6. A prostitute.
  7. A black woman (of any age), especially if in a condition of servitude.
verb
  1. To frequent prostitutes; to whore; also, to womanize.
  2. To act as a wench.

Pronunciation

/wɛnt͡ʃ/ En-au-wench.ogg

Word forms

wench wenches wenching wenched no-table-tags glossary wenchest wenchedst wencheth

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English wench, wenche (“female baby; girl (especially unmarried); maiden, young woman; bondwoman; serving maid; beloved, sweetheart; concubine, mistress; harlot, prostitute”) [and other forms], a shortened form of Middle English wenchel (“girl; maiden; child”), from Old English wenċel, winċel (“child; servant; slave”), from Proto-Germanic *wankilą, from Proto-Germanic *wankijaną (“to sway; waver”). The English word is cognate with Old High German wenken (“to waver; to give way, yield”), wankōn (“to totter”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Synonyms

NB: All terms are usually pejorative unless stated otherwise. 304 alley cat alleycat amorette amoret amorosa article Athanasian wench blowsabella bop chippy cocotte cockslut cockwhore crumpet cum dumpster cum guzzler cumhole cumslut cumwhore Cyprian demimondaine doxy drab eager beaver Essex girl flirt-gill floogy floosie floosy floozie floozy fornicator fornicatour fornicatress fornicatrix fuckstress Fulham virgin geebag giglot gillian gill good-time girl grim grisette harlot ho bag ho-bag hoe bag hoe-bag hoe hoochie mama hoochie hood rat ho hussy jade jay jillflirt

Derived words

Athanasian wench bed wench beer wench door wench henchwench wenchdom wenchful wenchhood wenchish wenchless wenchlike wenchliness wenchly wenchy wencher

Translations

Breton: merc'h Bulgarian: момиче Catalan: mossa Czech: děvče Czech: holka Danish: tøs Dutch: meid Dutch: deerne Esperanto: knabino French: jeune fille French: jeune femme French: fille German: Magd German: Mädchen German: Mädel Hindi: औरत Hungarian: lány Hungarian: fiatalasszony Hungarian: nőszemély Hungarian: perszóna Ido: damzelo Irish: cailín Italian: ragazza Italian: fanciulla Macedonian: мо́ма Macedonian: измеќарка Norwegian: jente Norwegian: tøs Norwegian Bokmål: jente Polish: dziewka Portuguese: moça Russian: де́вка Russian: деви́ца Russian: де́вушка Scottish Gaelic: caile Spanish: moza Swedish: jänta Swedish: piga Ukrainian: дівка Welsh: merch
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