▪ I. wench, n.
(wɛnʃ)
Forms: 3–7 wenche, (4 weynche, 5 wenge, 6 wensche, whence), 4– wench; Sc. 6 winsch, wynch, vinche, 8–9 winch.
[ME. wenche, shortened form of early ME. wenchel: see wenchel.]
1. a. A girl, maid, young woman; a female child. Now dial.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg., St. Kath. 75 Nou is þis..gret schame..to sende a-boute..After þe gretteste Maistres, for-to despuyti a-ȝen a fol wenche. a 1300 E.E. Psalter lxvii. 27 Bifor come princes samened to singand þar, In midde wenches of timpans war. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1901 William & his worþi wenche [sc. Melior, his betrothed] þan were bliþe of þe help. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 59 Crist came to þe hous of þis prince þat þe wenche lay deed inne. a 1450 Mirk's Festial 201 Then cryed þe fende and sayde: ‘Alas,..al my myȝt ys lorne, now such a ȝeong wench hath ouercomen me’. 1519 Interl. Four Elem. (Percy Soc.) 25 Than we wyll have lytell Nell, A proper wenche, she daunsith well. 1548 Udall Erasm. Par., Luke i. 57, 58 To whom it had been an happie chaunce to haue brought foorth a wenche, but a muche more luckie happe it was, to haue brought foorth a soonne. 1586 in Wadley Bristol Wills (1886) 250 If my wief be with Child whether it bee a Boye or a wenche I doe geve and bequeath vnto yt xxli. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. ii. 36 Prythee how many Boyes and Wenches must I haue. 1648 Cromwell Let. to Norton 3 Apr., The money I shall need for my two little Wenches; and thereby I shall free my Son from being charged with them. 1665 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 53 One Mr. John Viccaridg his child (a wench) of 11 years old. 1787 Burns Let. W. Nicol 1 June, A clean-shankit, straught, tight, weel-far'd winch. 1860 Geo. Eliot Mill on Fl. i. ii, ‘It seems a bit of a pity, though’, said Mr. Tulliver, ‘as the lad should take after the mother's side i'stead o' the little wench’. 1895 Crockett Men of Moss Hags xl. 287 For she was ever the most spirity wench in the world. |
b. A girl of the rustic or working class.
| 1575 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 145 She was but a milkmaide, and a plaine cuntrie wench. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 11 She to her gan call,..But the rude wench her answer'd nought at all. 1620 Shelton 2nd Pt. Quix. x. 59 Seeing none but the three wenches, he was somewhat troubled. 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. Pope 1 Apr., These wenches [daughters of Greek gardeners]..pass their time at their looms. 1843 James Forest Days v, His taste lies amongst country wenches. |
c. As a familiar or endearing form of address; used chiefly in addressing a daughter, wife, or sweetheart. Now only dial. or arch.
| 1581 A. Hall Iliad v. 97 [Juno to Pallas] Go we my wench, and let vs shew this dizarde here at ful, What power..we two haue. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iv. ii. 167 [Katharine to Patience, her woman.] When I am dead, good Wench, Let me be vs'd with Honor. 1826 Scott Woodst. ii, ‘I fear ye lie, wench,’ said her father. 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton iii, Thou'lt have enough to do and to bear, poor wench, to-morrow. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh iii. 1056 The mother held her tight, Saying..‘Why wench, why wench, The squire speaks to you now’. 1885 J. Payn Talk of Town I. 189 Of course it annoyed me, wench, to see Frank so obstinate. |
2. A wanton woman; a mistress. Obs. exc. arch.
More explicitly common wench, light wench, or wanton wench, wench of the stews.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. Prol. 51 Ermytes on an hep wiþ hoteide staues, Wenten to Walsyngham & here wenchis aftir. 1377 Ibid. B. xix. 433 Wenches of þe stuwes. c 1386 Chaucer Merch. T. 958, I am a gentil womman and no wenche. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 263 Envie..Is of the Court the comun wenche. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 3360 Kyng Edgarus douȝter yche wene he was, Y-kete bot vpon a wenche. a 1529 Skelton Col. Clout 970 Vpon these beestes rydynge, Naked boyes strydynge, With wanton wenches winkyng. 1535 Coverdale Isaiah xxiii. 16 Take thy lute (saie men to her) and go aboute the citie, thou art yet an vnknowne wensche. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. iii. 55 Nay, she is worse, she is the diuels dam: And here she comes in the habit of a light wench. 1607 Dekker & Webster Northw. Hoe i. B 1, A lodging of your prouiding? to bee cal'd a Lieutenants, or a Captaines wench! 1666 Pepys Diary 6 Aug., Find my wife mightily out of order, and reproaching of Mrs. Pierce and Knipp as wenches, and I know not what. 1698 [see lig-by]. 1765 Francis tr. Hor., Sat. (ed. 7) i. iv. 65 His spendthrift Son, who spurns the portion'd Bride, And keeps a common Wench. 1781 Johnson in Boswell 8 May, Chief Justice ―, who loved a wench, summed up favourably, and she was acquitted. |
3. A female servant, maidservant, serving-maid; also † handmaid, † bondwoman.
| 1380 Lay Folks Catech. (L.) 861 Thy neyȝboris hows, wenche ne knaue Coueyte hem noȝt. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 206 Lord and lady, grome and wenche Of al the Troyan nacioun. c 1400 Apol. Loll. (Camden) 74 As God bad bi Sara, Kast out þe wench and her son. c 1491 Chast. Goddes Chyld. 89 He [Peter] that for a worde of a wenche forsoke hym. 1526 Tindale Mark xiv. 66 There cam won of the wenches off the hyest preste. 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 27 He determined to send one of the wenches to call her maister. 1659–60 Pepys Diary 10 Mar., My wife was late making of caps for me, and the wench making of a pair of stockings. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 248 ¶5 The Wench in the Kitchen sings and scowers from morning to night. 1740 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. iv. 19 O! said she, if the wench, (for so she calls us maiden-servants,) takes care of herself she'll improve. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 26 ¶3 Scarcely a wench was to be got for all work. 1819 Scott Br. Lamm. vi, It is the wench of the house clattering to the well in her pattens. 1843 Lefevre Life Trav. Phys. I. 8, I..was informed by a dirty looking wench who opened the door, that the young ladies were gone. 1883 R. Broughton Belinda iii. viii, Tea..is brought out to them, in an arbour overlooking the stream, by a stout wench. |
| attrib. 1552 Huloet, Wenche seruaunte, ancilla... A..maid seruaunte, or pore wenche seruaunt. |
b. U.S. (See quots.)
| 1765 Boston Gazette 17 June (Thornton) 'Tis said the Fire was occasioned by a Negro Wench carrying a Quantity of Ashes. 1828–32 Webster, Wench. 3. In America, a black or colored female seryant; a negress. 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer. 1891 Century Dict., Wench. 3 (c) A colored woman of any age; a negress or mulattress, especially one in service. (Colloq.) |
4. Comb.: wench-like a., girlish.
| 1552 Huloet, Wenche lyke, puellaris. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iv. ii. 230 Do not play in Wench-like words with that Which is so serious. |
▪ II. wench, v. Obs. exc. arch.
(wɛnʃ)
[f. wench n.]
intr. To associate with common women. † to wench out (time): to spend (it) in wenching.
| 1599 Porter Two Angry Wom. Abington H 1, Indeed tis true, I am thus late a wenching, But I am forc'st to wench without a wench. c 1624 Chapman Hymn to Hermes 324 Tis better here to Imitate the Gods, And wine or wench out all times Periods. 1634 Peacham Compl. Gentl. i. (1906) 10 To be drunke, sweare, wench..are the attributes and markes now adayes of a great part of our Gentry. 1668 Dryden Even. Love iv. ii, As I am a Gentleman, a man of the Town, one who wears good Cloathes, Eates, Drinks, and Wenches abundantly. 1722 Steele Conscious Lovers iv. ii, Sir, I never saw a Man that wench'd soberly and discreetly, that ever left it off. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas ix. i. (Rtldg.) 311 Tell me where Signor de Santillane is fallible. Is he fond of play? does he wench? |