▪ I. wither-1, prefix
repr. OE. wiþer-, OFris. wither-, OS. withar-, OHG. widar- (MHG., G. wider-), = the adv. wiþer (see wither a.) used with ns., adjs., and verbs (cf. with- 3), chiefly in the sense (1) against, in opposition or hostility, as in OE. wiþercrist antichrist, wiþercwide contradiction, resistance, wiþersaca withersake, wiþerwinna witherwin; less commonly in the senses (2) in return or compensation, counter-, as in OE. wiþerléan recompense, wiþertihtle countercharge; and (3) in the opposite direction, back.
† 1. In sense (1), used (esp. by Layamon) in compounds denoting hostile acts or contests, as wiþerblench, -ded [deed n.], -gome [game n.], -hap, -ueht [fight n.], wiþerstrencþ resistance; also in the derived sense ‘adverse, evil’, as wiþercraft, -laȝe [law n.1], and (in personal designations) wiþerlaȝe [cf. OFris. witherlaga opponent] persecutor, wiþerþeod [thede] enemy people; occas. with verbs, as wiþerhalde [hold v.] to hold out against, oppose. (Often indistinguishable from wither a.) Obs.
| c 1200 Ormin 6905 Ȝiff he léte waxenn þær awihht off wiþerrstrenncþe Onnȝæn hiss aȝhenn oferrking. Ibid. 10227 To fihhtenn forr þe leode, To werenn hemm wiþþ wiþerr⁓þeod. c 1205 Lay. 272 Witen he wolde þurh þa wiþer-craftes [later text wise craftes] wat þing hit were. Ibid. 405 Þar aros wale & win & wiðer-heppes feola. Ibid. 9175 Ȝif þe king wolde wið heom wiðer-heolden. Ibid. 10968 Þe hæfde þurh his wiðer-laȝen muchel of þine cunne of-slaȝen. Ibid. 16318 Cuð hit is wide of ure wiðer-deden. Ibid. 24700 Summe heo wræstleden and wiðer-gome makeden. Ibid. 28669 Þa weoren wide to-floȝen: ut of þan wiðer-uehte. a 1225 St. Marher. 5 Þe awaride wiðerlahen leiden swa luðerliche on hire leofliche lich, þet hit brec oueral. c 1250 Long Life 12 in O.E. Misc. 156 Nis non so strong..Þat mai ago deaþes wiþer-blench. |
2. In sense (2),
† witherweȝe v. trans., to weigh again;
witherweight Sc. (also
wodderweght), a counterbalancing weight.
Cf. withernam.
| 1340 Ayenb. 137 To..wiþnyme his dedes..and telle, and weȝe, and *wyþerweȝe. |
| 1642 Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) p. xx, A *wodderweght to our bell to mak it ring the better. 1808 Jamieson, Witherweight,..(witherwecht), the weight thrown into one scale, to counterbalance the paper, or vessel, in the opposite scale, which contains the goods bought. 1820 Hogg Wint. Even. T. I. 270 She's nae wother-weight nouther. |
3. In sense (3),
† witherhoked a., barbed [
cf. MHG. widerhâke barb, G.
-haken, EFris.
wërhake];
† witherwise adv. Sc. [
wise n.1 II],
= withershins.
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 5666 Þis dragoun hadde a long taile Þat was *wiþþerhoked. |
| 1643 in Dalyell Darker Superst. Scot. x. (1834) 459 Shoe turnit hirselff thrie severall tymes round *witherwys, about the fyre. |
▪ II. wither-2 (
rare),
= wither v.
2 used in comb. in sense ‘withered’, as
wither-boned,
-faced adjs.| 1592 Nashe Strange Newes Wks. (Grosart) II. 227 The wither-fac'd weather-beaten Mariner. 1821 Milman Fazio 9 Like some dry wither-boned anatomy. |