▪ I. whey, n.
(hweɪ)
Forms: 1 hwæᵹ, hweᵹ, hwæiᵹ, 3 weȝe, wei, hwey, 4 qwhey, 4–5 wheye, 5–6 way, 5–7 (9 dial.) whay, 6 qway, quay, Sc. quhay(e, 6–7 whaye, wey, 9 dial. whew, 5– whey.
[OE. hwæᵹ, hweᵹ = OFris. *wei, (WFris. waei, NFris. wâi, EFris. wôi), MDu. wey (Du. wei, LG. wei, waje):—OTeut. *χwajo-, of which an ablaut-variant is found in MLG. huy, hoie (LG. hui, hoi, Du. hui):—*χujo-.]
1. a. The serum or watery part of milk which remains after the separation of the curd by coagulation, esp. in the manufacture of cheese.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) S 272 Serum, hwæᵹ. a 1050 Rect. Sing. Pers. §14 (Liebermann) 451 Sceaphyrdes riht is, þæt he hæbbe..blede fulle hweᵹes oððe syringe ealne sumor. 12.. Sidonius Glosses (Anecd. Oxon.) I. v. 34/3 Hoc serum, i. weȝe. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1009 (Cotton MS.) Hi drinkeþ milc & wei [Jesus MS. hwey] þar to. 13.. in Rel. Ant. I. 9/2 Cerum, i. quidam liquor, qwhey. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 200 A purgacioun with gotis whey. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 56 Take croddys of þe deye, & wryng owt þe whey. 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 43 Thai maid grit cheir of..curdis and quhaye. 1587 L. Mascall Cattle, Oxen (1596) 56 See..that your cheese be well and close gathered, in pressing foorth cleane all the whay. 1600 Surflet Country Farm i. xiv. 90 The whaie may serue for the feeding of the hogs and dogs. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet in Aliments, etc. i. 252 Of all Drinks, Whey is the most relaxing. 1791 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) I. vi. 183 My uncle drinks the whey here, as I do ever since I understood it was brought to his bedside every morning at six, by a very pretty dairy-maid. 1893 J. P. Sheldon Brit. Dairying xv. 163 On dairy farms where cheese and butter are made, pigs are useful to consume whey and skim-milk. |
b. with qualification:
whey of butter, buttermilk;
alum whey, whey formed in the coagulation of milk by powdered alum;
celery whey,
mustard whey (
mustard n. 4 c),
sack whey (
sack n.3 2),
wine whey, names of beverages or medicinal drinks;
white whey (see
quot. 1837).
| 1530 Palsgr. 288/1 Whay of butter, babeure. 1733 Cheyne Engl. Malady iii. i. (1734) 268 To drink plentifully of small Sack Whey, or Water-Gruel. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762) 80 Drink half a Pint of Cellery Whey. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Engl. Housekpr. (1778) 313 To make Wine Whey. Put a pint of skimmed milk, and half a pint of white wine into a bason. 1784 J. Potter Virt. Villagers II. 88 Wine and mustard wheys. 1837 Brit. Husb. II. 424 (Libr. Usef. Knowl.), That which is pressed by hand from the curd, is termed ‘white whey’, and contains a considerable portion of oily matter. 1856 Emerson Engl. Traits xiv. 246 The making a better sick-chair and a better wine-whey for an invalid. 1883 I. Banks Forbidden to Marry viii, To prepare a whey of alum-and-milk. |
† 2. The serum of the blood.
Obs.| 1578 Banister Hist. Man v. 82 The whay of bloud ought by the reynes to be strayned out. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 95 The whey is deriued by the vreters into the bladder. 1718 Chamberlayne Relig. Philos. I. v. §4 The afore⁓mention'd Food mixes itself with another Humour, Water, or Whey, which the Anatomists call the Lympha. |
3. a. attrib. and
Comb., as
whey-bath,
whey-colour,
whey-curd,
whey-house,
whey-lead (
lead n.1 5),
whey-pot,
whey-tub;
whey-drinker;
whey-colour(ed),
whey-hued,
whey-like,
whey-sour adjs.; in reference to the pale colour of whey, as
whey beard,
whey countenance,
whey face;
whey-bearded,
whey-pale adjs.;
whey-bacon, bacon from a
whey-pig;
whey-beard, (
a) a person having a ‘whey beard’; (
b) the whitethroat,
Sylvia cinerea;
whey-bird, the woodlark,
Alauda arborea; also
= whey-beard (
b);
† whey-blooded a., cowardly;
† whey-brained a., weak-brained;
whey-brose, brose made with whey instead of water;
whey-butter, butter made from whey or from
whey-cream;
whey-cream, the cream which remains in the whey after the curd has been removed;
whey-drop,
-eye, a hole in an imperfectly pressed cheese in which the whey collects;
whey-face, a person having a pale face; so
whey-faced a.;
wheygoose nonce-wd., used as a term of opprobrium;
whey-pig, a pig fed with whey;
whey-porridge, porridge made with whey instead of water;
whey-spring = whey-drop above;
whey-whig, a beverage made of whey flavoured with herbs;
whey-worm, see
quot. 1828;
fig. a whim; hence
whey-wormed a., marked with whey-worms.
| a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) 431 The latter end of November or December, when all the *whey-bacon is gone. |
| 1888 Rae Austrian Health Res. viii. 169 The spoiled daughters of luxury..indulge in *whey baths. |
| 1614 R. Tailor Hog hath lost Pearl iv. F 3 b, Father *whay-beard. 1647 Lilly Chr. Astrol. xv. 84 He is leane, crooked, or beetle-browed, a thin whay Beard. 1831 Rennie Montagu's Ornith. Dict., Whey beard, a name for the White Throat. |
| 1553 N. Grimalde Cicero's Offices i. (1556) 46 b, As soone as he waxed *whey⁓berded. |
| 1825 Jamieson, *Whey-bird, the wood-lark,..Lanarks. 1862 Johns Brit. Birds 625 Whey-bird, the Whitethroat. |
| 1675 T. Duffet Mock Tempest i. i, The *Whey-Blooded Rogue looks as if his heart were melted into his Breeches. |
| 1660 Tatham Rump i. i, A *Whey-brain'd fellow. |
| 1894 W. D. Latto Tam. Bodkin viii, The *whey-brose was perfection. |
| a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) 406 They skimmed the cream off to make *whey-butter. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 211 The quantity of whey-butter per cow is about half a pound per week. |
| 1662 R. Venables Exper. Angler ix. 89 When..the river..looketh of a *whay colour. 1684 J. S. Profit & Pleas. United 171 If the weather be dark or Whey-colour. 1845 James Arrah Neil ii, That indistinct hue which may be called whey-colour. |
| 1602 Shakes. Merry W. B iii, I take it hee is somewhat a weakly man: And he has as it were a *whay coloured beard. a 1735 Arbuthnot Diss. Dumpling Misc. Wks. 1751 I. 67 A goodly Whey-colour'd Beard. 1836 Combe Digestion i. v, A semi-transparent whey-coloured fluid. |
| 1604 T. M. Black Bk. E 1 b, A *whay countenance, short stooppes, and earthen dampish-voyce. |
| 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husb. IV. i. 170 When Butter is wholly made with *Whey-cream, it is then justly named Whey-butter. |
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Requeson, *whey cruds. |
| 1740 E. Baynard Health (ed. 6) 20 Such a Tormenter never rages 'mong *Whey-Drinkers in poor cottages. |
| 1811 W. Aiton Agric. Surv. Ayrs. 452 (Jam.) Putrifying holes, which, in the dairy language of Ayrshire, are termed *whey-drops. |
| Ibid. 455 Whey-springs, or *eyes, are seldom met with in the cheeses of Ayrshire. |
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. iii. 17 Macb...What Soldiers, Patch?.. What Soldiers *Whay-face? Ser. The English Force, so please you. 1753 J. Collier Art Torment. i. ii. 46 If her complexion is fair, call her Whey-face. 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. Mrs. Mosse, A little..man, with a Jerry-Sneak expression in his pale whey-face. |
| 1649 Davenant Love & Hon. iv. iv. 20 Marke, sir, that *whey-fac'd fellow in the red. 1697 Prior Ep. to Sir F. Sheppard 49 That sneaking Whey-fac'd God Apollo. 1753 Foote Englishm. in Paris i. i, One whey-fac'd Son of a Bitch..call'd me Bête. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre xvii, Your tutor, whey-faced Mr. Vining. |
| 1949 C. Fry Lady's not for Burning i. 8 What shall I do With this nattering *wheygoose, Alizon? Shall I knock him down? |
| 1663 Pepys Diary 10 June, To the Royal Theatre... Thence to the *whay-house, and drank a great deal of whay. |
| a 1915 Joyce Giacomo Joyce (1968) 2 Smitten by the hot creamy light, grey *wheyhued shadows under the jawbones. |
| 1872–4 Jefferies Toilers of Field (1892) 164 Against one wall are the *whey-leads. |
| 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) IV. 174 A *whey-like juice. 1822 Good Study Med. II. 189 Whey-like urine. |
| 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist v. 193 He saw in a moment the student's *wheypale face. 1978 H. Wouk War & Remembrance xiii. 129 Ascher's whey-pale face wanly lit up at the comparison. |
| 1585 Higins Junius' Nomencl. 51/1 Porcus serarius,..a *whey pig. |
| 14.. Metr. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 624/4 Whey i. olla *whey potte. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 29 With her weak blood and *wheysour milk she had fed him. |
| 1784 Twamley Dairying Exempl. 13 Faults..in Cheese such as..*Whey Springs. 1811 [see whey-eye]. |
| 1813 T. Rudge Agric. Glouc. 299 Butter-milk..is sometimes saved in the *whey-tub. |
| 1811 Willan in Archaeologia XVII. 163 *Whey-Whig, whey impregnated with mint, balm, and walnut leaves. |
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV 222 The Essex men hauynge wylde *whaye wormes in their heddes. 1828 Craven Gloss., Whey-worms, pimples, from which exudes a wheylike moisture. |
| a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 553 A sory face *Wheywormed about. |
b. as
adj. Whey-coloured (
cf. whey beard).
| 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 245 His tawny Beard..The upper part thereof was Whey, The nether Orange mixt with Grey. |
▪ II. † whey, v. Obs. [f. prec.] trans. To separate the whey from (milk); hence in
vbl. n. attrib., as
wheying cloth; also, to make (the blood) wheyish or thin.
| 1660 in Sir R. Sadler's St. Papers (1809) III. 358 Two fleeting dishes, six turning cloathes, and five wheying cloathes. 1661 Feltham Resolves (ed. 8) ii. xi. 201 It is most true that in matters unjust, Christian Religion wheyes the bloud and makes a Coward of man. 1716 M. Davies Athen. Brit. III. 73 The Idolatry of Covetousness..had so whey'd or coagulated all it's Mass of Blood. 1728 E. Smith Compl. Housew. (ed. 2) 85 Take the Curd of a gallon of Milk, and whey it well. Ibid. 105 Take a gallon of new Milk, set it as for a Cheese, and gently whey it. |
▪ III. whey north. f. quey, heifer,
way int.