wafture
(ˈwɑːftjʊə(r), ˈwæf-, ˈwɒf-)
In 7 wafter.
[f. waft v.2 and v.1 + -ure. Cf. clefture, raisure; with the spelling wafter cf. jointer for jointure.
It seems most probable that Rowe was right in regarding wafter in the former edd. of Shakes. Jul. C. as intended for wafture. There is, however, a possibility that wafter is a word of Shakespeare's native dialect, related to wafter v. to wave (Myrc a 1450). Since the publication of Rowe's ed. of Shakes., wafture, of which no earlier examples are known, has been somewhat common in literary use.]
1. a. The action or an act of waving (the hand or something held in the hand).
| 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 246 You answer'd not, but with an angry wafter [ed. Rowe 1709 and later edd. wafture] of your hand, Gaue signe to me to leaue you. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ii. 545 Caught by the wafture of a golden lure. 1782 E. N. Blower Geo. Bateman I. 52 ‘Go!’ cried she, with an indignant wafture of her hand. 1875 G. Macdonald Malcolm II. v. 73 A few mysterious waftures of the hand of his lord set him trembling. |
b. The waving (of a wing or wings).
| 1790 H. Boyd Shepherds of Lebanon i. Poetical Reg. (1812) VII. 127 The northern Eagle rous'd, and shook his plumes Tremendous: at the wafture of his wings The clouds disperst. 1845 F. W. Faber Rosary, etc. 62 With a murmuring, Soft as the wafture of a stockdove's wing. 1878 C. Stanford Symb. Christ viii. 222 Light as the wafture of an insect's wing, that motion might have been. |
c. The waving or undulation (of a garment).
| 1880 A. Smith Summer in Skye 209 How we would..note the wafture of your garments! |
2. The action of wafting (waft v.1); propulsion by air or current.
| 1755 J. Hervey Theron & Aspasio xii. II. 204 Where the Wafture [of the blood] is to be speedy, the Channels either forbear to wind in their Course, or to lessen in their Dimensions. 1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Witches, The gentle Thames, which landed me, in the wafture of a placid wave or two,..somewhere at the foot of Lambeth palace. 1842 Sir H. Taylor Edwin the Fair iii. i, The wind..Descended with a wafture and a swoop. |
3. Something wafted or carried by the breeze.
| 1817 Blackw. Mag. I. 72 What waftures of incense are filling the air! 1837 New Monthly Mag. LI. 197 Gratification seemed to breathe in every wafture of the new-mown fragrance. |