† ˈwanger Obs.
Forms: 1 wongere, wangere, 4 wonger(e, wanger(e.
[OE. wangęre = OHG. wangâri (MHG. wanger), Goth. waggareis:—OTeut. type *waŋgārjo-z, f. *waŋgō- cheek, wang1.]
A pillow.
Speght (1602) explains the word (in Chaucer) as ‘a male, or bouget’, and this explanation appears in Kersey 1708 and later Dicts. and glossaries.
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xiv. [xi.] (1890) 296 To þon þætte from dæle þæs heafdes eac swylce meahte wongere betweoh ᵹeseted beon. c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 124 Ceruical, wangere. c 1386 Chaucer Sir Thopas 201 His brighte helm was his wonger [v.rr. wanger, wongere, wangere.]. |