Wend
noun, verb ·1 syllable ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A large extent of ground; a perambulation; a circuit UK, obsolete
- 2 A member of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland; a Sorb; a Kashub.
- 3 A Slavic person living anywhere in the vicinity of German-speaking areas.
- 1 To turn; change, to adapt. obsolete, transitive
- 2 direct one's course or way wordnet
- 3 To direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon some course or way. transitive
"We wended our weary way westward."
- 4 To turn; make a turn; go round; veer. intransitive, obsolete
"with the prowe at both ends, so as they need not to wend or hold water"
- 5 To pass away; disappear; depart; vanish. intransitive, obsolete
Example
More examples""Would that your king AEneas here could stand, / driven by the gale that drove you to this strand! / Natheless, to scour the country, will I send / some trusty messengers, with strict command / to search through Libya to the furthest end, / lest, cast ashore, through town or lonely wood he wend.""
Etymology
From Middle English wenden, from Old English wendan (“to turn, change, translate”), from Proto-West Germanic *wandijan, from Proto-Germanic *wandijaną (“to turn”), causative of *windaną (“to wind”), from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, wind, braid”). Cognate with Dutch wenden (“to turn”), German wenden (“to turn, reverse”), Danish vende (“to turn”), Norwegian Bokmål vende (“to turn”), Norwegian Nynorsk venda (“to turn”), Swedish vända (“to turn, turn over, veer, direct”), Icelandic venda (“to wend, turn, change”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wandjan, “to cause to turn”). Related to wind (Etymology 2).
From German Wende, from Proto-Germanic *Winidaz, the same source as Old English Winedas (“Slavs”).
Related phrases
More for "wend"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.