welk

W4E1L1K5
/wɛlk/

verb

Of a plant: to wither, wilt, decay.

OriginMiddle English welken ← Proto-West Germanic *wilkijan ← Proto-Germanic *welkaz →
UncommonScrabble 11
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Meanings

welk1

verbwelk (third-person singular simple present welks, present participle welking, simple past and past participle welked)

present singular third person welks · participle present welking · participle past welked · past welked

  1. obsoleteOf a plant: to wither, wilt, decay.
  2. obsoleteTo diminish; to lose brightness, to wane.

    As gentle Shepheard in ſweete euentide, / When ruddy Phebus gins to welke in weſt, [...]

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 23, page 9
    1 more example

    [T]he Church that before by inſenſible degrees welk'd and impair'd, now with large ſteps went down hill decaying; [...]

    1641 May, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Causes that hitherto have Hindred it. […], [London]: […] Thomas Vnderhill, →OCLC; republished in Will Taliaferro Hale, editor, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England (Yale Studies in English; LIV), New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1916, →OCLC, page 257
  3. dialectalto soak, steep.
  4. dialectalto thrash, beat severely.
  5. To contract; to shorten.

    But nowe ſadde Winter welked hath the day, / And Phœbus weary of his yerely taſ-ke: / Yſtabled hath his ſteedes in lowlye laye / And taken vp his ynne in Fiſhes haſ-ke.

    1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Nouember. Ægloga Vndecima.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 44, verso
  6. transitiveTo form into wrinkles or ridges.

welk2

nounwelk (plural welks)

plural welks

  1. alternativeAlternative form of whelk.

Welk3

proper nounWelk (plural Welks)

plural Welks

  1. A surname.

Origin

welk · verb

  1. Proto-Germanic*welkaz“soft, withered”
  2. Proto-West Germanic*wilkijan“to become soft”
  3. Middle Englishwelken
  4. Englishwelk

From Middle English welken, probably from a continental Germanic language; compare Middle Dutch welken (Dutch welken) and Middle Low German welken. Cognate with German welken. Ultimately, from Proto-West Germanic *wilkijan (“to become soft”), from Proto-Germanic *welkaz (“soft, withered”), according to Kluge, related to *wulkną (“cloud”). Compare also Old English wealwian (“to fade, wither”), Old English wlacu (“tepid, lukewarm”).

More words from Middle English, Proto-West Germanic, Proto-Germanic

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Welk · proper noun

  1. Proto-Slavic*velь“great”
  2. Middle High Germanwelc“mild, soft”
  3. Proto-West Germanic*welag
  4. Old Saxonwelag
  5. Middle Low Germanwelich“lively, luxuriant”
  6. EnglishWelk

* As a German surname, variant of Welge, from Middle Low German welich (“lively, luxuriant”), from Old Saxon welag, from Proto-West Germanic *welag; also as a variant of Welsch. * Also as a German surname, from archaic Middle High German welc (“mild, soft”), from the root of the verb welken (“to wither”). * As a Lower Sorbian surname, from wjelk (“wolf”). * Also as a Sorbian surname, from the personal name Welimir, from Proto-Slavic *velь (“great”).

More words from Middle Low German, Old Saxon, Proto-West Germanic

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Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with welk

elkwhelkjelqkelkEłkspelk
All rhymes →

Anagrams

lewk
Cite this entry
APA

welk. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/welk

MLA

“welk.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/welk. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “welk,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/welk.

Source: welk on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.