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Webster 1913 Edition

Wield

Wield

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Wielded
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Wielding
.]
[OE.
welden
to govern, to have power over, to possess, AS.
geweldan
,
gewyldan
, from
wealdan
; akin to OS.
waldan
, OFries.
walda
, G.
walten
, OHG.
waltan
, Icel.
valda
, Sw.
vålla
to occasion, to cause, Dan.
volde
, Goth.
waldan
to govern, rule, L.
valere
to be strong. Cf.
Herald
,
Valiant
.]
1.
To govern; to rule; to keep, or have in charge; also, to possess.
[Obs.]
When a strong armed man keepeth his house, all things that he
wieldeth
ben in peace.
Wyclif (Luke xi. 21).
Wile [ne will] ye
wield
gold neither silver ne money in your girdles.
Wyclif (Matt. x. 9.)
2.
To direct or regulate by influence or authority; to manage; to control; to sway.
The famous orators . . . whose resistless eloquence
Wielded
at will that fierce democraty.
Milton.
Her newborn power was
wielded
from the first by unprincipled and ambitions men.
De Quincey.
3.
To use with full command or power, as a thing not too heavy for the holder; to manage; to handle; hence, to use or employ;
as, to
wield
a sword; to
wield
the scepter
.
Base Hungarian wight! wilt thou the spigot
wield
!
Shakespeare
Part
wield
their arms, part curb the foaming steed.
Milton.
Nothing but the influence of a civilized power could induce a savage to
wield
a spade.
S. S. Smith.
To wield the scepter
,
to govern with supreme command.

Webster 1828 Edition

Wield

WIELD

,
Verb.
T.
[L. The primary sense of power and strength is to stretch or strain.]
1.
To use with full command or power, as a thing not too heavy for the holder; to manage; as, to wield a sword; to wield the scepter.
Part wield their arms, part curb the foaming steed.
2.
To use or employ with the hand.
Nothing but the influence of a civilized power could induce a savage to wield a spade.
3.
To handle; in an ironical sense.
Base Hungarian wight, wilt thou the spigot wield?
To wield the scepter, to govern with supreme command.

Definition 2025

wield

wield

English

Verb

wield ‎(third-person singular simple present wields, present participle wielding, simple past and past participle wielded)

  1. (obsolete) To command, rule over; to possess or own.
  2. (obsolete) To control, to guide or manage.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.10:
      With such his chearefull speaches he doth wield / Her mind so well, that to his will she bends […].
  3. To handle with skill and ease, especially of a weapon or tool.
  4. To exercise (authority or influence) effectively.

Translations

Anagrams

Scots

Etymology

From Old English wieldan ‎(“to control”), a derivative of wealdan "to govern", from Germanic *walt-. Cognate with German walten, Swedish vålla.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /wiːld/

Verb

wield

  1. To control, to guide or manage.

Etymology

From Middle English welden, from Old English wieldan ‎(“to control”), from Proto-Germanic *waldijaną.

Pronunciation

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