Winchester goose (1 H. VI. i. 3, Tr. and Cr. v. 11). This is said to be a swelling caused by a disease got in the stews. The latter passage, however, might intimate that it was a denizen of them. The origin of the phrase is supposed to be the circumstance of the stews being chiefly on the Bankside, which was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester; the proximity of the river may have caused the use of the term goose.
Wish (M. Ado, iii. 1, M. for M. iv. 3, Ant. and Cl. i. 3), advise, recommend; (T. of Sh. i. 1) to introduce.
Wit. This word was the same as esprit, Fr., and meant mental power, talent. Thus we have wit and humour still in use, but with changed signification; for it meant talent and character (individuality), as we have "wit and judgment" (Oth. iv. 2); or perhaps there may be an ellipsis of good with humour. The "five wits" (Tw. N. iv. 2) are said to be the five mental powers, "common wit [sense], imagination, fantasy, estimation [judgment], and memory" (Hawes, Bell. Pucel. ch. xxiv. ap. Malone). They were probably originally the five senses; but Shakespeare (Son. cxli.) clearly distinguishes them.
With (T. Sh. iv. 2, Ant. and Cl. v. 2, et alibi), by, a sense it still bears, but not as in these places.
World. "Go to the world" (All's Well, i. 3), "be a woman of the world" (As Y. L. v. 3), be married, have, as it were, a place in the world.
Worm (Ant. and Cl. v. 2, et alibi), snake, serpent, wyrm, A.S. Among Shakespeare's other errors in natural history seems to be that of his supposing (M. N. D. iii. 2, R. II. iii. 2) the adder to sting with its tongue. See, however, Ham. iii. 4, 3 H. VI. i. 4. Webster actually says,
"Repentance then will follow, like the sting
Plac'd in the adder's tail."
Vitt. Coromb. ii.
J. Bunyan says of himself that having seized an adder, and "stunned her with a stick, he forced open her mouth, and plucked out her sting with his fingers," meaning probably her fangs.