different between welch vs wench

English

Etymology

Alternative form of welsh, from Welsh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /w?lt?/
• Rhymes: -?lt?

Noun

welch (plural welches)

1. A person who defaults on an obligation, especially a small one.

   She's a welch. That watering-can isn't hers: I lent it to her three years ago.

Verb

welch (third-person singular simple present welches, present participle welching, simple past and past participle welched)

1. To fail to repay a small debt.
2. To fail to fulfill an obligation.
   • 1992, Bo Goldman, Scent of a Woman (film)

     I welched. I'm a welcher. Didn't I tell you?

   • 1973, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather Part II (screenplay, second draft)

     MICHAEL: Clemenza promised Rosato three territories in the Bronx after he died, and then you took over and welched.

Derived terms

• welcher

Translations

English

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 wen?el, win?el (“child; servant; slave”), from Proto-Germanic *wankil?, from Proto-Germanic *wankijan? (“to sway; waver”). The English word is cognate with Old High German wenken (“to waver; to give way, yield”), wank?n (“to totter”).

The verb and adjective are derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /w?nt?/
• Rhymes: -?nt?

Noun

wench (plural wenches)

1. (archaic, now dialectal or humorous, possibly offensive) A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one.
   1. (specifically) A girl or young woman of a lower class.
2. (archaic or dialectal) Used as a term of endearment for a female person, especially a wife, daughter, or girlfriend: darling, sweetheart.
3. (archaic) A woman servant; a maidservant.
4. (archaic) A promiscuous woman; a mistress (“other woman in an extramarital relationship”).

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:promiscuous woman, Thesaurus:mistress
5. (archaic) A prostitute.
6. (US, archaic or historical) A black woman (of any age), especially if in a condition of servitude.

   Synonym: (dated, literary, now offensive) negress

Derived terms

Descendants

• Sranan Tongo: wenke

Translations

Verb

wench (third-person singular simple present wenches, present participle wenching, simple past and past participle wenched)

1. (intransitive, archaic, now humorous) To frequent prostitutes; to whore; also, to womanize.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• wencher

Translations

References

Anagrams

• chewn