▪ I. † wak, a. and n. Sc. Obs.
Also 6–7 wack, 6 vak.
[a. ON. *wakw- (Icel. vǫk-r) moist, damp = (M)Du. wak:—OTeut. *wakwo-, cogn. w. Gr. ὑγρός, L. ūvidus (:—*ugvidus) moist.]
A. adj. Moist, damp.
| 1513 Douglas æneis iii. ix. 2 Quhen Aurora the wak nycht did arest, And chais fra hevin with hir dym skyis donk. 1528 Lyndesay Dreme 388 First, to the Mone,..Quene of the see,..Off nature wak and cauld, and no thyng clere. 1533 Bellenden Livy v. xxii. (S.T.S.) II. 224 Þai ar nurist with wak humouris and Caldnes. 1572 Satir. Poems Reform. xxxiii. 1 Ȝe vapurs wak, and watters in the air! c 1590 J. Stewart Poems (S.T.S.) II. 215 And till eschew nocturnall vapor vak. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj., Chalm. Air xxv. 153 b, They make the claith wak and donke. 1666 Despauterii Gram. Instit., Lib. VII, E 7 b (Jam.), Madeo, to be wack or drunk. Permadeo, to be very wack. 1776 Herd's Coll. Sc. Songs II. Gloss., Wak, moist, wet. |
B. n. Moisture.
| 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 76 Quhen it [the moon] is full, all thingis..that ar governyt be wak or moystnes, ar mare forssy and vigorous na quhen it is wane. |
Hence ˈwakness, moisture.
| c 1520 Nisbet N.T. Scots Luke viii. 6 Ane vthir fell on staan; and it sprang vp and dryit, for it had nocht moistour (or wacnes). 1528 Lyndsay Dreme 460 Than past we vp quhare Jupiter the kyng Satt in his speir,..Complexionate with waknes and with heit. 1563 Knox Ressoning betw. Abbot Crosraguell & K. (1812) Prol. ij b, The earth bringeth forth the tree, it groweth by moistour, and natural wacknes. 1595 Duncan App. Etymol., Mador, humor, waknesse. 1808 Jamieson, Waknes, humidity. |
▪ II. wak, wakande
see weak a., vacand.