Etymology

wield

W4I1E1L1D2

Today it means: To handle with skill and ease, especially a weapon or tool. Full definition →

Middle English welden ← Old English wealdan ← Proto-West Germanic *waldan
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wield · verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*waldaną“to rule”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*waldan
  3. Old English · inherited fromwieldan“to control, subdue”
  4. Old English · inherited fromwealdan“to control, rule”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromwelden
  6. English todaywield

From Middle English welden, from the merger of Old English wealdan (“to control, rule”) (strong class 7) and Old English wieldan (“to control, subdue”) (weak). Both verbs derive from Proto-West Germanic *waldan and *waldijan, respectively; and are ultimately from Proto-Germanic *waldaną (“to rule”). The reason for the merger was that in Middle English the -d in the stem made it hard to distinguish between strong and weak forms in the past tense.

wield · noun2

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*waldiz“power, might, control”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*waldi
  3. Old English · inherited from*wield
  4. Middle English · inherited fromwelde
  5. English todaywield

From Middle English welde, from Old English *wield, ġewield (“power, control, dominion”), from Proto-West Germanic *waldi, from Proto-Germanic *waldiz (“power, might, control”).

Words from the same roots

Old Englishwealdan all →

wald

Proto-West Germanic*waldan all →

wald

Proto-Germanic*waldaną all →

wald

Middle Englishwelde all →

weld

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.