What does "wench" mean?
A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one.
Wench
/wɛnt͡ʃ/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one.
- Grammar: wench is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: abigail, amah, au pair girl, ayah.
- Useful contrasts: adult male, gentleman, man.
- Usage evidence: He cried aloud before all the company that he would that very night render his body and soul to the Powers of Evil if he might but overtake the wench.
How to use "wench"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "wench" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "wench" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "wench" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "wench" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "wench" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abigail" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "wench", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one. archaic, dialectal, humorous, offensive, possibly
"Jane played the role of a wench in an Elizabethan comedy."
- 2 informal terms for a (young) woman wordnet
- 3 A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one.; A girl or young woman of a lower class. archaic, dialectal, humorous, offensive, possibly, specifically
"The woman is a brazen, hard-looking wench, a female pedlar, who hawks needles, thread, cheap looking-glasses, pious pictures, almanacs, hair-pins, ballads, of the most humble pattern, through the country."
- 4 Used as a term of endearment for a female person, especially a wife, daughter, or girlfriend: darling, sweetheart. archaic, dialectal
"When I am dead, good Wench, / Let me be vs'd with Honor; ſtrew me ouer / With Maiden Flowers, that all the world may know / I was a chaſte Wife, to my Graue: [...]"
- 5 A woman servant; a maidservant. archaic
"When they had kyndled a fyre in the myddes of the palys / and were sett doune to gedder / Peter alsoo sate doune amonge them. And won off the wenches / as he sate / beholde him by the light and sett goode eyesight on him / and sayde: This same was also with hym. Then he denyed hym sayinge: Woman I knowe hym nott."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 A promiscuous woman; a mistress (“other woman in an extramarital relationship”). archaic
"2 [Friar Bernardine]. Thou haſt committed— / Bar[abas]. Fornication? but that was in another Country; And beſides, the Wench is dead."
- 7 A prostitute. archaic
- 8 A black woman (of any age), especially if in a condition of servitude. US, archaic, historical
"Nancy Basset, 28, likely wench, mulatto / Proved to be free. / Certified free as per General Birch Certificate. / / Patience Jackson, 23, very likely wench, mulatto / Says she was born free Rhode Island. / Certified free as per General Birch Certificate."
Verb
- 1 To frequent prostitutes; to whore; also, to womanize. archaic, humorous, intransitive
"This is ſure ſome hide-bound ſtudent, that proportions his expence by his penſion; and wencheth at Tottenham court for ſtewed prunes and cheeſcakes."
- 2 frequent prostitutes wordnet
- 3 To act as a wench. archaic, intransitive
"λαικάζω (laikázō), to wench"
Example
"He cried aloud before all the company that he would that very night render his body and soul to the Powers of Evil if he might but overtake the wench."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "wench"?
Common synonyms include: abigail, amah, au pair girl, ayah, babe, baby.
How do you use "wench" in a sentence?
He cried aloud before all the company that he would that very night render his body and soul to the Powers of Evil if he might but overtake the wench.
How do you pronounce "wench"?
Pronounced /wɛnt͡ʃ/.
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.