Weregild, Wergild, wēr′gild, n. a composition by which, by the custom of Anglo-Saxons, Franks, and other Teutonic peoples, homicide and other heinous crimes against the person were expiated. [A.S. wergield, from wer, man, gield—gieldan, to pay.]
Wernerian, wėr-nē′ri-an, adj. pertaining or according to the opinions or system of A. G. Werner, a German mineralogist and geologist (1750-1817), who classified minerals according to their external characters, and advocated that all geological phenomena are due to the action of water.—n. an upholder of this theory.—n. Wer′nerite, a variety of scapolite.
Wersh, wersh, adj. (Scot.) tasteless, unsalted. [Wearish.]
Wert, wert, the 2d pers. sing. of were, used as the pa.t. subjunctive of be.
Wertherian, ver-tē′ri-an, adj. pertaining to or resembling the character of Werther in Goethe's romance, 'The Sorrows of Young Werther.'—n. Wer′therism, sentimentality like that of Werther.
Wesand, wē′zand, n. (Spens.). Same as Weasand.
Wesleyan, wes′le-an, adj. pertaining to Wesleyanism.—n. one who adopts Wesleyanism.—n. Wes′leyanism, the system of doctrine and church polity of the Wesleyan Methodists: Arminian Methodism. [Named from John Wesley (1703-91).]
West, west, n. the quarter where the sun sets: one of the four chief points of the compass: the direction faced when one stands with his back to the high altar of a church: the countries to the west of Europe.—adj. situated towards or coming from the west: opposite the high altar of a church.—adv. towards the west.—v.i. (Spens.) to move towards the west.—adv. West′-about′, towards the west.—v.i. Wes′ter (obs.), to turn westward.—adjs. Wes′tering (Milt.), passing to the west; Wes′terly, lying or moving towards west: from the west.—adv. towards the west.—adj. Wes′tern, situated in the west: belonging to the west: moving towards, or coming from, the west.—n. an inhabitant of a western region or country.—ns. Wes′terner, a person belonging to the west; Wes′ternism, an idiom or other characteristic of western people.—adj. Wes′ternmost, furthest to the west.—n. Wes′ting, space or distance westward: departure westward: time of setting or reaching the west.—adv. West′ling, towards the west.—adj. West′most, most westerly.—adj. and adv. West′ward, towards the west.—advs. West′wardly, West′wards, towards the west.—Western Church, the Latin Church, as distinguished from the Eastern or Greek Church; Western Empire, the western division of the later Roman Empire; Western States, the states of the American Union lying west of the Alleghanies.—Westward ho! to the west! an old cry of London watermen plying westwards. [A.S. west (Fr. ouest, Ice. vestr); prob. conn. with Ice. vist, abode, L. vesper, Gr. hespera.]
Westphalian, west-fā′li-an, adj. pertaining to Westphalia, a duchy, a kingdom, and now a province of Prussia.—n. a native of Westphalia.
Wet, wet, adj. containing water: having water on the surface: rainy: (slang) given to drinking, tipsy: (U.S.) allowing the sale of intoxicating liquors, as opposed to prohibition.—n. water or wetness: moisture: act of wetting, a dram, a debauch.—v.t. to make wet: to soak with water: to sprinkle: (slang) to celebrate by drinking:—pr.p. wet′ting; pa.t. and pa.p. wet, (rarely) wet′ted.—ns. Wet′-cup′ping, the simultaneous application of a cupping-glass and the making an incision on the skin; Wet′-dock, a dock or basin for floating vessels at all states of the tide; Wet′ness; Wet′-nurse, a nurse who suckles a child for its mother.—adj. Wet′-shod, having shoes or feet wet.—n. Wet′ting-machine′, a machine used to damp paper for printing.—adj. Wet′tish, somewhat wet.—Wet bob (slang), a boy at school who goes in for rowing in preference to cricket or football; Wet bulb thermometer (see Psychrometer); Wet goods, liquors; Wet meter, a gas-meter in which the gas to be measured passes through water; Wet plate (phot.), a plate coated with collodion and sensitised with a salt of silver.—A wet blanket, a damper, kill-joy. [A.S. wǽt; Ice. vátr; from root of water.]