WELTER, wel't[.e]r, _v.i._ to roll or tumble about, to wallow about, esp.
in dirt: to lie in some floating substance.--_v.t._ to make way in a
weltering manner.--_n._ a tossing about, a state of turmoil.--_adj._
WEL'TERING. [M. E. _walten_, to roll over--A.S. _wealtan_, to roll.]
WELTER-WEIGHT, wel't[.e]r-w[=a]t, _n._ an unusually heavy weight, carried
mostly in steeple-chases and hurdle-races.--_n._ WEL'TER-RACE, a race in
which such weights are carried.--_n.pl._ WEL'TER-STAKES, the stakes in a
welter-race. [Perh. from _welter_, in allusion to the less free motion;
others trace to _swelter_, from the heating of the heavily weighted
horses.]
WELWITSCHIA, wel-wich'i-a, _n._ a genus of African Gymnosperms belonging to
the _Gnetaceæ_, and containing only one species, its flower consisting of a
panicle of brilliant overlapping scarlet scales. [Friedrich _Welwitsch_
(1806-72), an Austrian traveller.]
WEN, wen, _n._ a sebaceous cyst, most commonly on the scalp, consisting of
obstructed sebaceous glands, which enlarge by the internal pressure of
their accumulated secretions.--_adjs._ WEN'NISH, WEN'NY, wen-like. [A.S.
_wen_, a swelling, a wart; Dut. _wen_.]
WENCH, wensh, _n._ a maid, damsel: a working-girl, a maid-servant: a lewd
woman, a mistress, a whore.--_v.i._ to frequent the company of
whores.--_n._ WENCH'ER, one who indulges in lewdness. [Perh. from the sing.
of A.S. _winclo_, children, prob. _wencel_, weak, _wancol_, unstable.]
WEND, wend, _v.i._ to go: to wind or turn. [A.S. _wendan_, the causative of
_windan_, to turn round.]
WEND, wend, _n._ the name given by the Germans to a branch of the Slavs
which, as early as the 6th century, occupied the north and east of Germany
from the Elbe along the coast of the Baltic to the Vistula, and as far
south as Bohemia: one of the Slavic population of Lusatia who still speak
the Wendish tongue.--_adjs._ WEN'DIC, WEN'DISH. [Prob. ultimately cog. with
_wander_.]
WENLOCK, wen'lok, _adj._ (_geol._) denoting a group or series of rocks of
the Upper Silurian period, consisting of limestone and shale, and largely
developed in the neighbourhood of _Wenlock_ in Shropshire.
WENT, went, properly _pa.t._ of _wend_, but now used as _pa.t._ of
_go_.--_n._ (_Spens._) a turning: a path.
WENTLE-TRAP, wen'tl-trap, _n._ a genus of gasteropodous molluscs, having a
spiral shell with many deep whorls, crossed by elevated ribs, and the
aperture round and narrow. [Ger. _wendel-treppe_, a winding staircase.]
WEPT, wept, _pa.t._ and _pa.p._ of _weep_.
WERE, wer, _v.i._ the _pl._ of _was_, used as _pa.t._ of _be_. [A.S.
_w['æ]re_; Ger. _war_, Ice. _vera_, to be. Cf. _Was_.]
WEREWOLF, WERWOLF, w[=e]r'woolf, _n._ a person supposed to be able by
natural gift or magic art to change himself for a time into a
wolf.--_adjs._ WERE'WOLFISH, WER'WOLFISH.--_n._ WERE'WOLFISM, lycanthropy.
[A.S. _werwulf_--_wer_, man (Goth. _vair_, L. _vir_), _wulf_, a wolf. The
modern Ger. _Währwolf_ is the Mid. High Ger. _Werwolf_, Latinised as
_garulphus_ or _gerulphus_, whence the O. Fr. _garoul_, the modern French
name being pleonastically _loup-garou_.]
WEREGILD, WERGILD, w[=e]r'gild, _n._ a composition by which, by the custom
of Anglo-Saxons, Franks, and other Teutonic peoples, homicide and other
heinous crimes against the person were expiated. [A.S. _wergield_, from
_wer_, man, _gield_--_gieldan_, to pay.]
WERNERIAN, w[.e]r-n[=e]'ri-an, _adj._ pertaining or according to the
opinions or system of A. G. _Werner_, a German mineralogist and geologist
(1750-1817), who classified minerals according to their external
characters, and advocated that all geological phenomena are due to the
action of water.--_n._ an upholder of this theory.--_n._ WER'NERITE, a
variety of scapolite.