Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to wench
Participle: wenched
Gerund: wenching
Cognates
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Indicative
Present
| I | wench |
| you | wench |
| he;she;it | wenches |
| we | wench |
| you | wench |
| they | wench |
Perfect
| I | have wenched |
| you | have wenched |
| he;she;it | has wenched |
| we | have wenched |
| you | have wenched |
| they | have wenched |
Past
| I | wenched |
| you | wenched |
| he;she;it | wenched |
| we | wenched |
| you | wenched |
| they | wenched |
Pluperfect
| I | had wenched |
| you | had wenched |
| he;she;it | had wenched |
| we | had wenched |
| you | had wenched |
| they | had wenched |
Future
| I | will wench |
| you | will wench |
| he;she;it | will wench |
| we | will wench |
| you | will wench |
| they | will wench |
Future Perfect
| I | will have wenched |
| you | will have wenched |
| he;she;it | will have wenched |
| we | will have wenched |
| you | will have wenched |
| they | will have wenched |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | wench |
| you | wench |
| he;she;it | wench |
| we | wench |
| you | wench |
| they | wench |
Perfect
| I | have wenched |
| you | have wenched |
| he;she;it | have wenched |
| we | have wenched |
| you | have wenched |
| they | have wenched |
Imperfect
| I | wenched |
| you | wenched |
| he;she;it | wenched |
| we | wenched |
| you | wenched |
| they | wenched |
Pluperfect
| I | had wenched |
| you | had wenched |
| he;she;it | had wenched |
| we | had wenched |
| you | had wenched |
| they | had wenched |
Conditional
Present
| I | would wench |
| you | would wench |
| he;she;it | would wench |
| we | would wench |
| you | would wench |
| they | would wench |
Perfect
| I | would have wenched |
| you | would have wenched |
| he;she;it | would have wenched |
| we | would have wenched |
| you | would have wenched |
| they | would have wenched |
Imperative
| you | wench |
| we | Let's wench |
| you | wench |
Verbs conjugated like 'wench'
abash,
abolish,
abroach,
accomplish,
accroach,
address,
admix,
admonish,
ado,
adpress,
affamish,
affix,
alloo,
amass,
ambush,
anguish,
annex,
appeach,
appears,
approach, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'wench'
bench,
hench,
sench,
welch,
winch,
wrench,
beach,
belch,
bentch,
blench,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. c.1290
wenche "girl or young woman," shortened from
wenchel "child" (12c.), from O.E.
wencel, probably related to
wancol "unsteady, fickle, weak," and cognate with O.N.
vakr "child, weak person," O.H.G.
wanchal "fickle." The word degenerated through being used in ref. to servant girls, and by 1362 was being used in a sense of "woman of loose morals, mistress." The verb meaning "to associate with common women" is from 1599.
"The wenche is nat dead, but slepith." [Wyclif, Matt. ix.24, c.1380]
2. 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”).
3. The verb is derived from the noun.
Sample Sentences
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This is ſure ſome hide-bound ſtudent, that proportions his expence by his penſion; and wencheth at Tottenham court for ſtewed prunes and cheeſcakes. [1638, Thomas Nabbes, The Bride, a Comedie. […], London: Printed by R[ichard] H[odgkinson] for Laurence Blaikelocke […], published 1640, →OCLC; republished in Playes, Maskes, Epigrams, Elegies, and Epithalamiums. […], London: Printed by I. Dawson, […], 1639, →OCLC, Act II, scene iv:]
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He [a man under the influence of the planet Mars] hath a marke or ſcar in his face, is broad-ſhouldered, a ſturdy ſtrong body, being bold and proud, given to mocke, ſcorne, quarrell, drinke, game and wench: which you may eaſily know by the Signe he is in; if in the houſe of ♀ he wencheth, if in ☿s he ſteals, [...] [1647, William Lilly, “Another Briefe Description of the Shapes and Formes of the Planets”, in Christian Astrology Modestly Treated of in Three Books. […], London: Printed by Tho[mas] Brudenell for John Partridge and Humph[rey] Blunden, […], →OCLC, page 85:]
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In ſhort, Ned has drank, wenched, fought, and beggared himſelf, through an exalted ſolicitude for the general emolument, and is now cloſe pent up in one of our priſons, out of a pure and diſintereſted regard for the welfare of ſociety. [1767, [Hugh Kelly], “Saturday, May 1”, in The Babler. Containing a Careful Selection from those Entertaining and Interesting Essays, which have Given the Public so much Satisfaction under that Title during a Course of Four Years, in Owen’s Weekly Chronicle, volume II, number LXVI, London: Printed for J[ohn] Newbery, […]; L. Hawes, W. Clarke, and R. Collins, […]; and J. Harrison, […], →OCLC:]
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I know a clergyman who, having enjoyed for several years the world's good opinion, was turned off, through a ridiculous pique, by a young nobleman to whom he was preceptor. […] He drank, wenched, and was so complete a gambler, that, had he kept his old situation much longer, he would have ruined the principles of his pupil. [1807 March, [Charles] Dibdin, “Dibdin’s Tour. [Letter 1 … Introductory.]”, in The Polyanthos, volume IV, Boston, Mass.: Published by J[oseph] T[inker] Buckingham, […], →OCLC, footnote, page 247:]
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This Dalgarno does not drink so much, or swear so much, as his father; but he wenches, Geordie, and he breaks his word and oath baith. [1822 May 29, [Walter Scott], chapter VIII, in The Fortunes of Nigel. […], volume III (in English), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 231:]
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Bundy's reasons for leaving the Cape are obscure. He drinks, but that doesn't dim his powers. He wenches. But so do we all. [1972, Philip K[indred] Dick, chapter 1, in We Can Build You (DAW SF Books; no. 14), New York, N.Y.: DAW Books, →OCLC; republished London: HarperVoyager, HarperCollins, 2008, →ISBN, page 11:]
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Already, you see, I had begun to acquire a taste for rakery and wenching among the London debutantes. [1979 October, Roald Dahl, chapter 1, in My Uncle Oswald, London: Michael Joseph, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, 2011, →ISBN:]
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λαικάζω (laikázō), to wench [1852, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Greek-English Lexicon, page 824:]