Sekirov Dictionary

wench

/wɛnt͡ʃ/

noun 7
verb 2
forms 7

noun7

•
(offensive, no longer used) A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one.
- Jane played the role of a wench in an Elizabethan comedy.
(offensive, no longer used) A girl or young woman of a lower class.
•
(no longer used) A promiscuous woman; a mistress (“other woman in an extramarital relationship”).
- 2 [Friar Bernardine]. Thou hast committed— / Bar[abas]. Fornication? but that was in another Country; And besides, the Wench is dead. — 1589
(no longer used) A prostitute.
(no longer used) A woman servant; a maidservant.
•
(dialect, no longer used) Used as a term of endearment for a female person, especially a wife, daughter, or girlfriend: darling, sweetheart.
- 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: [...] — 1613
•
(US, no longer used) A black woman (of any age), especially if in a condition of servitude.
- Now, I bought a gal once, when I was in the trade,—a tight, likely wench she was, too, and quite considerable smart— [...] — 1851

verb2

•
(humorous, no longer used) To frequent prostitutes; to whore; also, to womanize.
- This is sure some hide-bound student, that proportions his expence by his pension; and wencheth at Tottenham court for stewed prunes and cheescakes. — 1638
(no longer used) To act as a wench.

forms

wenched · wenchedst · wenching · wenches · wencheth · wenchest · wenchen

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