Etymology

wen

W4E1N1

Today it means: A cyst on the skin; a tumor or wart. Full definition →

Middle English wen ← Old English wenn ← Proto-Germanic *wanjaz
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wen · noun1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*wanjaz
  2. Old English · inherited fromwenn
  3. Middle English · inherited fromwen
  4. English todaywen

From Middle English wen, wenne, from Old English wenn, wænn (“wen”), from Proto-Germanic *wanjaz. Cognate with Dutch wen (“goiter”), Low German Ween (“wen”), dialectal German Wenne (“wen”), Danish van, væne.

wen · noun2

  1. Old English · inherited fromwynn
  2. Old English · inherited fromwynn
  3. English todaywen

Inherited from Old English wynn.

wen · adverb, conjunction, pronoun, noun3

Eye dialect spelling of when.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishwenn all →

Wanstead

Old Englishwynn all →

winwynnWenhamwinne

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.