welkin
(ˈwɛlkɪn)
Forms: α. 1–2 wolcen, wolcn (2 wlcn), wolc, 2–3 wolcne, 3–4 wolkne, (1) 4 wolken(e, wolkon; pl. 1 wolcnu, -na, 2 wolcne (wlcne), wolkne. β. 2–3 weolcne (also pl.), 4 weolkyn; 3–5 welkne, 4–5 welkene, 4–7 welken (4 welcon); 4–6 welkyn, 5 -yne, 5, 7 welkine, 6– welkin (7 -ing, wellkin, wilkin). γ. 3–5 walkne, walkene (4 -en), 4–5 walkyn(e.
[OE. wolcen, wolcn neut. = OFris. wolcn- (olcn-, ulcn-), wolken (olken, ulken; WFris. wolken, wolk-e, NFris. wolk), OS. wolcan, wolcn- (MLG. wolke-n, wulke, LG. wolk-e, wulk-e; MDu. wolcke, Du. wolk), OHG. wolkan, wolchan (MHG. wolken, G. wolke); the word is lacking in the Scand. group and not recorded in Gothic. A rare OE. wolcne wk. fem., is also represented in early ME.
The phonology of the ME. forms with eo, e, and a in the stem is irregular. It has been suggested that the eo and e are due to mutation, but there is no obvious reason for the change, and the explanation still leaves the forms with a unaccounted for. In a number of the early ME. instances it is difficult to decide whether the forms are to be taken as singular or plural.]
† 1. A cloud. Obs.
In OE., esp. in poetry, freq. in plural, esp. in the phrase under wolcnum = under the sky or heaven (cf. sense 2).
| Beowulf 651 Scaduhelma ᵹesceapu scriðan cwoman, wan under wolcnum. c 825 Vesp. Psalter civ. 39 Aðeneð wolcen in ᵹescildnisse heara. c 897 ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxxix. 285 Se ðe him ælc wolcn ondrædt, ne ripð se næfre. Ibid., Se wind drifeð ðæt wolcn. 971 Blickl. Hom. 59 Ealle þa ᵹewitaþ swa swa wolcn. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvi. 64 æfter þysum ᵹe ᵹeseoð mannes bearn..cumendne on heofones wolcnum. c 1050 O.E. Chron. (C.) an. 979 Þy ilcan ᵹeare wæs ᵹesewen blodiᵹ wolcen on oft siðas on fyres ᵹelicnesse. c 1205 Lay. 11974 Swurken vnder sunnen sweorte weolcnen. Ibid. 25592 Þa com þer..winden mid þan weolcnen a berninge drake. |
2. The apparent arch or vault of heaven overhead; the sky, the firmament.
In later use (from 16th c.) only literary (chiefly
poet.) and
dial. (
Lancs.).
| α 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) Hi sæᵹon on norð east fir micel & brad wið þone eorðe & weax on lengþe up on an to þam wolcne & se wolcne un dide on fower healfe and faht þær to ᵹeanes. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 151 Þe sunne teð water from eorðe up to þe wolcne. c 1205 Lay. 27452 Þa wolcne gon to dunien, Þa eo[r]ðe gon to biuien. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) App. E 4 Þer hi bigan his fliȝt, & fley him swiþe an hey Vp bi þe lofte fer, and þe wolkne was wel ney. c 1315 Shoreham vii. 68 Þe wolkne by-clepþ al þe molde. 1387 Trevisa Higden V. 399 Ethelbert spak wiþ hem out of house under þe wolken [sub divo]. |
| β c 1205 Lay. 2883 He ferde swiðe hehᵹe Þere weolcne he wes swiðe nih. a 1225 Ancr. R. 306 Al þene world leitende of swarte leite up into weolcne. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1682 (Jesus MS.) We habbe stefne brihte & sitteþ vnder welkne bi nyhte. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xlii. 114 Ase fele sythe ant oft..As sterres beth in welkne. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 160 Al þe wyde worlde... Bothe welkne and þe wynde, water and erthe, Heuene & helle. 1387 Trevisa Higden III. 459 It is ful likynge to us to beholde þe welkene and þe sterres of hevene. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 328 (Douce MS.) Þe windes, þe weders, þe welkene vnhides. ? a 1500 Chester Pl., Creation 21 To be a divident to twyne the waters aye; Above the welkin, benethe also. 1529 More Dyaloge iii. Wks. 1222/2 He..caste vp his eyen in to the welkin and wepte. 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 7 Whiche parte is aboue all the foure Elementes, and compasseth them about, and is called the Skie, or Welkin. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. ii. 414 That lightly born..Safe through the Welkin I my course may take. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iii. 81 When the welkin had put aside the vizard of the night. 1662 Hibbert Syntagma Theol. i. 29 Light..diffuseth in an instant the whole welkin over. 1678 Vaughan Thalia Rediv., Daphnis 18 Not one Black cloud, no rags, nor spots did stain The Welkins beauty. 1714 Gay Sheph. Week i. 3 No chirping Lark the Welkin sheen invokes. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. i. lviii, There would he linger, till the latest ray Of light sat trembling on the welkin's bound. 1817 Scott Harold i. ii, If a sail but gleam'd white 'gainst the welkin blue. 1857 Longfellow Sandalphon 44 When..the welkin above is all white, All throbbing and panting with stars. |
| fig. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley xxviii, I..see a fine, perfect rainbow, bright with promise, gloriously spanning the beclouded welkin of life. 1868 Lowell Under Willows 284 And all the heavens revolve In the small welkin of a drop of dew. |
| γ c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 96 Ðo god bad ben ðe firmament, Al abuten ðis walkne sent. 13.. K. Alis. 1737 (Laud MS.), Ich haue moo kniȝttes to werren Þan ben in þe walken sterren. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 355 Shipmen and shepherdes..Wisten by þe walkene, what shulde bityde. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 1006 As sterris in the frosty nyght, Whanne walkne is most bryght, With-oute cloude or any skye. c 1450 Cov. Myst., Creation 86 The secunde day watyr I make The walkyn also ful fayr and bryth. |
b. Considered as the abode of the Deity, or of the gods of heathen mythology: The celestial regions, heaven.
| 1559 Mirr. Magistr., Hen. VI, xiii, If..such as say the welken fortune warkes, Take Fortune for our fate. 1581 A. Hall Iliad i. 6 But Iuno hearde from Welkin high, this cruell iarre. Ibid. ii. 31 Of Gods thou Ioue the soueraigne chiefe, and Lord of Welkin hie Of aire, and of this earth below. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 327 How glittereth now this place of great request, Like to the seat of heavenly welkin hie? 1653 W. Ramesey Astrol. Restored iii. vii. 157 It is Nectar and Ambrosia such as will make the wilkin roar. 1852 Kingsley Andromeda 34 Far-seeing Apollo Watched well-pleased from the welkin. |
c. in phrases descriptive of loud sounds, as
to make the welkin ring,
to rend the welkin, etc.
| 1587 Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. iv. ii. 1489 (Brooke) As when a fiery exhalation Wrapt in the bowels of a freezing cloude, Fighting for passage, makes the Welkin cracke. a 1593 Marlowe & Nashe Dido iv. ii. 1103 O heare Iarbus plaining prayers, Whose hideous ecchoes make the welkin howle. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. Induct. ii. 47 Thy hounds shall make the Welkin answer them. 1635 Quarles Embl. viii. 33 One frisks and sings,..and makes the Welkin rore. 1728 Pope Dunc. ii. 246 Sound forth, my Brayers, and the welkin rend. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 157 The Welkin rings, Men, Dogs, Hills, Rocks, and Woods In the full Consort join. 1814 Southey Roderick iii. 368 That shout, Which, like a thunder-peal, victorious Spain Sent through the welkin, rung within his soul Its deep prophetic echoes. 1818 Wordsw. Inscr. Hermit's Cell v. 10 When storms the welkin rend. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. i. vii, ‘Live the Fatherland!’ rings responsive to the welkin. 1854 Surtees Handley Cr. i, Away they go full cry, making the welkin ring with the music of their deep-toned notes. 1874 Dixon Two Queens vii. i. II. 2 The citizens rent the welkin with their shouts. |
d. in the asseveration
by the welkin.
| 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster i. i, This villanous poetrie will vndoe you, by the welkin. 1822 Scott Peveril xxxviii, Which, by the welkin and its stars, you would not be slow in avenging. |
e. to the welkin, ‘to the skies’ (
sky n.1 3 d).
| c 1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lancs. Dial. Wks. (1862) 58 This Rascot..roost meh Bitch to the varra Welkin. |
3. The upper atmosphere; the region of the air in which the clouds float, birds fly, etc.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 525 Wroþe wynde of þe welkyn wrastelez with þe sunne. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 343 Ne in al the welkyn was no clowde. c 1400 Destr. Troy 7621 Ouershotyng with shoures thurgh þere shene tenttes, As neuer water fro the welkyn hade waynit before. a 1450 Mirk's Festial 160 Men of all þe nacyons..werne comen togedyr ynto þe tempule for fere of þe berst þat þay herd yn þe welken. 1570 Levins Manip. 134/21 The Welkin, aire, aura, aër. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 89 Thee stars imparted no light, thee welken is heauye. 1601 W. Percy Cuckqueanes & Cuckolds Errants v. iv. (Roxb.) 69 Hold vp thy Lynk I say, I may obserue the state of the welking. Rayne or no Rayne? Ha. 1645 G. Daniel Poems Wks. 1878 II. 42 The Royall Eagle, in the welkin towers. 16.. Chalkhill Thealma & Cl. (1683) 160 One might perceive such changes in the King As hath th' inconstant wellkin in the Spring. 1713 Croxall Orig. Canto Spenser x. (1714) 12 When the blasting Mildew's dreary Bane With noisom Breath infects the Welkin sheen. 1757 Smollett Reprisal Epil., If this welkin angry clouds deform. 1853 C. Brontë Villette xxxv, Down washed the rain, deep lowered the welkin. 1876 Blackie Songs Relig. 19 Breath that drew the rolling rivers From the welkin's dewy cells. 1880 Webb Goethe's Faust i. ii. 67 The baleful powers of air, Which through the welkin stream. |
| fig. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. i. 65 Who you are, and what you would are out of my welkin, I might say Element, but the word is ouer-worne. |
† 4. In the Ptolemaic system: A ‘heaven’ or sphere.
Obs.| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 288 And euerilc on ðat helden wid him [Lucifer]..fellen ut of heuones liȝt In-to ðis middil walknes niȝt. 1387 Trevisa Higden II. 185 Þe planetes and þe neyþer wolkons moeueþ out of þe west in to þe est. Ibid., The meouynge of þe ouermeste wolken out of þe est in to þe west. |
5. attrib. and
Comb., as
welkin-country,
welkin-dome,
welkin-way;
welkin-high,
welkin-like adjs.;
† welkin-eye, a heavenly or blue eye;
welkin-wise adv., after the fashion of the welkin;
† welkin-wizard, an almanac-maker who makes astrological forecasts.
| 1581 A. Hall Iliad i. 15 The God his mansion keepes, In *Welkin Countrey he remaines. |
| 1860 G. P. Morris Poems (ed. 15) 169 When victory rent the *welkin-dome He earned a sepulchre—at home. |
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 136 Come (Sir Page) Looke on me with your *Welkin eye. |
| 1804 J. Grahame Sabbath 875 The joyous choir unseen, Poised *welkin-high, harmonious fills the air. |
| 1839 Bailey Festus 254 That high and *welkin-like infinity. |
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 9 He leaves the *welkin way most beaten playne, And, rapt with whirling wheeles, inflames the skyen With fire not made to burne. |
| 1854 J. D. Burns Vision of Prophecy 122 A luminous element of gladness Now vaults our sphere of being *welkin-wise. |
| 1596 Barlow tr. Lavater's Three Serm. i. 10 The coniectures of these *Welkin Wisards [marg. Almanacke makers], whose Prognostications of euerie yeares warres, diseases, heate, colde, [etc.]..proue either manifest vntruthes, or coniecturall ghesses. |