Meanings
wend1
present singular third person wends · participle present wending · participle past wended · past wended · archaic participle past went · archaic past went · first person past singular wended · archaic first person past singular went · archaic present second person singular wendest · past second person singular wended · archaic past second person singular wendedst · archaic past second person singular went · present singular third person wends · archaic present singular third person wendeth · past singular third person wended · archaic past singular third person went
- transitiveTo direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon some course or way.
We wended our weary way westward.
4 more examples
And ſtill her thought that ſhe was left alone / Uncompanied great viages to wende.
1557 July 1, Virgil, “The Fowrth Boke of Virgiles Aenæis”, in Henry [Howard, Earl] of Surrey, transl., edited by William Bolland, Certain Bokes of Virgiles Aenaeis, Turned into English Meter ([Roxburghe Club Publications; I]), London: […] A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1814, →OCLCThe Merovingian Kings, slowly wending on their bullock-carts through the streets of Paris, with their long hair flowing, have all wended slowly on,—into Eternity.
1837, Thomas Carlyle, “Realised Ideals”, in The French Revolution: A HistoryLike most original jurisdiction water cases, Mississippi v. Tennessee has taken a few years to wend its way to Supreme Court oral argument, and that argument will be keyed to the parties’ objections to the report of a court-appointed special master.
2021 October 1, Robin Craig, “In term-opener, justices will hear Mississippi’s complaint that Tennessee is stealing its groundwater”, in SCOTUSblogThis evidentiary lead had then wended its way from the NCA’s child exploitation investigations team to the computer crime team
2022 April 7, Andy Greenberg, “Inside the Bitcoin Bust That Took Down the Web’s Biggest Child Abuse Site”, in WIRED - intransitiveobsoleteTo turn; make a turn; go round; veer.
with the prowe at both ends, so as they need not to wend or hold water
c. 1611, Walter Raleigh, A Discourse on the Invention of Ships &c.
plural wends
- UKobsoletelawA large extent of ground; a perambulation; a circuit.
Wend2
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
wend · verb, noun
- Proto-Indo-European*wendʰ-“to turn, wind, braid”
- Proto-Germanic*wandijaną“to turn”
- Proto-West Germanic*wandijan
- Old Englishwendan“to turn, change, translate”
- Middle Englishwenden
- Englishwend
From Middle English wenden, from Old English wendan (“to turn, change, translate”), from Proto-West Germanic *wandijan, from Proto-Germanic *wandijaną (“to turn”), causative of *windaną (“to wind”), from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, wind, braid”). Cognate with Dutch wenden (“to turn”), German wenden (“to turn, reverse”), Danish vende (“to turn”), Norwegian Bokmål vende (“to turn”), Norwegian Nynorsk venda (“to turn”), Swedish vända (“to turn, turn over, veer, direct”), Icelandic venda (“to wend, turn, change”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wandjan, “to cause to turn”). Related to wind (Etymology 2).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Wend · noun
- Proto-Germanic*Winidaz
- GermanWende
- EnglishWend
From German Wende, from Proto-Germanic *Winidaz, the same source as Old English Winedas (“Slavs”).
More words from German, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian тръгвам, отправям се
- тръгвам (trăgvam)to direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon some course or way
- отправям се (otpravjam se)to direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon some course or way
Czech ubírat se, směřovat
- ubírat seto direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon some course or way
- směřovatto direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon some course or way
- namířit si toto direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon some course or way
Danish vender
- vendermember of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
Esperanto Vendo
- Vendomember of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
Finnish vendi
- vendimember of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
French Wende
- Wendemember of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
German folgen, verfolgen
- folgento direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon some course or way
- verfolgento direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon some course or way
- Wendemember of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
- Wendinmember of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
Italian venedo, vendo
- venedomember of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
- vendomember of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
Norwegian Bokmål vender
- vendermember of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
Polish Wend
- Wendmember of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
Portuguese vendo
- vendomember of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
Russian направляться, венд
- направляться (napravljatʹsja)to direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon some course or way
- венд (vend)member of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
- винд (vind)member of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
- вене́д (venéd)member of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
Spanish vendo
- vendomember of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
Turkish yönelmek
- yönelmekto direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon some course or way
Ukrainian прямувати, венд
- прямувати (prjamuvaty)to direct (one's way or course); pursue one's way; proceed upon some course or way
- венд (vend)member of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
- вінд (vind)member of a Slavic people from the borders of Germany and Poland
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with wend
Sounds the same
Cite this entry
wend. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wend
“wend.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wend. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wend,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wend.
Source: wend on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.