Meanings
wield1
present singular third person wields · participle present wielding · participle past wielded · past wielded
- To exercise (authority or influence) effectively.
The question isn't whether AI will reshape human society—it's whether its engineers will wield that power thoughtfully.
2025 August 27, Dana Suskind, “AI Engineers Need Their Own Hippocratic Oath. Here’s What It Should Say”, in TIME, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2025 - obsoleteTo carry out, to bring about.
All is weill done, God wate, weild he hys will.
a. 1513, Virgil, “VIII, prologue”, in Gawin Douglas [i.e., Gavin Douglas], transl., edited by [George Dundas], The Æneid of Virgil: Translated into Scottish Verse (Bannatyne Club, Publications; 64, no. 1), volume I, Edinburgh: T. Constable, printer, published 1839, →OCLC, page 448, line 1
wield2
plural wields · alternative obsolete welde · alternative obsolete weild · alternative obsolete weelde
- countableuncountableRule, command; power, control, wielding.
All wealth in my wield is, I know by my wit […]
1968, John Allen, Masters of British Drama, page 323 more examples
What boots it if I beat the heathen home, And fold the mountains in my wield, and fire […]
1872, George Francis Savage-Armstrong, The tragedy of Israel, volume 2, page 64[…] telling him of the treasures concealed in the cave, of the mysterious ring and tarnhelmet, possessing which he can hold the wield of the world.
1887, Richard Wagner, Siegfried“Trust me, I will make them listen,” he hissed and for the first time, he used his wield fallaciously, because instead of giving life, he absorbed it from the tree.
2019, Lele Iturrioz, Summer
WIELD3
- abbreviationacronymAcronym of Western Institute for Endangered Language Documentation.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
wield · verb
- Proto-Germanic*waldaną“to rule”
- Proto-West Germanic*waldan
- Old Englishwieldan“to control, subdue”
- Old Englishwealdan“to control, rule”
- Middle Englishwelden
- Englishwield
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.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →wield · noun
- Proto-Germanic*waldiz“power, might, control”
- Proto-West Germanic*waldi
- Old English*wield
- Middle Englishwelde
- Englishwield
From Middle English welde, from Old English *wield, ġewield (“power, control, dominion”), from Proto-West Germanic *waldi, from Proto-Germanic *waldiz (“power, might, control”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مَارَسَ
- مَارَسَ (mārasa)to exercise authority or influence
Bulgarian владея, боравя
- владея (vladeja)to handle with skill and ease
- боравя (boravja)to handle or use a weapon
- упражнявам контрол (upražnjavam kontrol)to exercise authority or influence
Catalan manejar, manipular
- manejarto handle with skill and ease
- manipularto handle with skill and ease
- fer anarto handle or use a weapon
- exercirto exercise authority or influence
Chinese Mandarin 使用, 運用 /运用
- 使用 (shǐyòng)to handle with skill and ease
- 運用 /运用 (yùnyòng)to handle with skill and ease
- 行使 (xíngshǐ)to exercise authority or influence
Czech ovládat, zvládat
- ovládatto handle with skill and ease
- zvládatto handle with skill and ease
- zvládnoutto handle with skill and ease
- třímatto handle or use a weapon
- držetto handle or use a weapon
- ohánět seto handle or use a weapon
- mávatto handle or use a weapon
Dutch beheersen, hanteren
- beheersento handle with skill and ease
- hanterento handle or use a weapon
- uitoefenento exercise authority or influence
Estonian valdama, oskama
- valdamato handle with skill and ease
- oskamato handle with skill and ease
- valitsemato handle with skill and ease
- käsitlemato handle or use a weapon
- oskamato handle or use a weapon
- valdamato handle or use a weapon
- haldamato exercise authority or influence
- valitsemato exercise authority or influence
- valdamato exercise authority or influence
Finnish hallita, käyttää
- hallitato handle with skill and ease
- käyttääto handle or use a weapon
- käsitelläto handle or use a weapon
- hallitato exercise authority or influence
French manier, brandir
- manierto handle with skill and ease
- brandirto handle or use a weapon
- exercerto exercise authority or influence
German beherrschen, führen
- beherrschento handle with skill and ease
- führento handle or use a weapon
- ausübento exercise authority or influence
Greek χειρίζομαι
- χειρίζομαι (cheirízomai)to handle with skill and ease
Hungarian kezel, forgat
- kezelto handle with skill and ease
- forgatto handle or use a weapon
- gyakorolto exercise authority or influence
Icelandic beita
- beitato handle with skill and ease
Irish oibrigh, láimhsigh
- oibrighto handle with skill and ease
- láimhsighto handle or use a weapon
- feidhmighto exercise authority or influence
Italian maneggiare, padroneggiare
- maneggiareto handle with skill and ease
- padroneggiareto handle with skill and ease
- brandireto handle or use a weapon
Japanese 使いこなす
- 使いこなす (tukai-konasu)to handle with skill and ease
Māori mau, mau
- mauto handle with skill and ease
- mauto handle or use a weapon
- whakarereto handle or use a weapon
Polish władać, dzierżyć
- władaćto handle with skill and ease
- dzierżyćto handle or use a weapon
- władaćto handle or use a weapon
- sprawowaćto exercise authority or influence
- władaćto exercise authority or influence
Portuguese manusear, empunhar
- manusearto handle with skill and ease
- empunharto handle or use a weapon
- brandirto handle or use a weapon
- manusearto handle or use a weapon
- exercerto exercise authority or influence
Russian владе́ть, ору́довать
- владе́ть (vladétʹ)to handle with skill and ease
- ору́довать (orúdovatʹ)to handle with skill and ease
- вла́ствовать (vlástvovatʹ)to exercise authority or influence
- облада́ть (obladátʹ)to exercise authority or influence
Spanish manejar, empuñar
- manejarto handle with skill and ease
- empuñarto handle or use a weapon
- esgrimirto handle or use a weapon
Swedish svinga, hantera
- svingato handle with skill and ease
- hanterato handle with skill and ease
Welsh trin
- trinto handle or use a weapon
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with wield
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
wield. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wield
“wield.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wield. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wield,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wield.
Source: wield on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.