Meanings
wendy1
plural wendies
- UKderogatoryslangparticularly northern UKA wuss; someone who is particularly cowardly.
Toughen up, you big wendy.
Wendy2
- A female given name.
"What's your name?" he asked. "Wendy Moira Angela Darling," she replied with some satisfaction. "What is your name?" "Peter Pan."
1911, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, chapter III, in Peter and Wendy, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →OCLC
Origin
- Old Englishwende“watercourse with a bend”
- EnglishWendy
Popularized by the character in J. M. Barrie's play, Peter Pan (1904), though occasionally found earlier; the author explained that he got it from Fwendy-Wendy ("friend"), a nickname given to him by a child. Alternatively, from a diminutive of the Welsh Gwendolen; or from Wendelin, a diminutive of Wendel; therefore a doublet of Gwen. A habitational forename meaning, "island at the river bend", from Old English wende (“watercourse with a bend”) + ēġ (“island”).
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bengali ওয়েন্ডি
- ওয়েন্ডি (ōẇenḍi)female given name
Dutch Wendi
- Wendifemale given name
French Wendy
- Wendyfemale given name
Greek Γουέντι
- Γουέντι (Gouénti)female given name
Italian Wendy
- Wendyfemale given name
Japanese ウェンディ
- ウェンディ (Wendi)female given name
Portuguese Wendy
- Wendyfemale given name
Yiddish ווענדי
- ווענדי (vendi)female given name
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with wendy
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
wendy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wendy
“wendy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wendy. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wendy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wendy.
Source: wendy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.