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wade

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wade¹

  • /weɪd/
  • /wed/ Scotland

Sounds like wayed, weighed, wheyed (pane–pain merger, all not in Scotland) · Rhymes with -eɪd

Where it comes from

From Middle English waden, from Old English wadan, from Proto-West Germanic *wadan, from Proto-Germanic *wadaną (“to go, pass through”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂dʰ- (“to go”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian waadje (“to wade”), West Frisian wâdzje (“to wade”), Dutch waden (“to wade”), German Low German waden (“to wade”), German waten (“to wade”), Danish vade (“to wade”), Swedish vada (“to wade”), Icelandic vaða (“to wade”), and Latin vādō (“go, walk; rush”).

verb wades · wading · waded

  1. intransitive To walk through water or something that impedes progress. So eagerly the fiend […] / With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way, / And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies.
  2. intransitive To progress with difficulty. to wade through a dull book
  3. transitive To walk through (water or similar impediment); to pass through by wading. wading swamps and rivers
  4. of the sun or moon To gleam intermittently through clouds or mist. I saw my Meg come linking o'er the lee; I saw my Meg, but Maggy saw nae me: For yet the sun was wading through the mist, And she was close upon me ere she wist.
  5. intransitive To enter recklessly. to wade into a fight or a debate

noun wades

  1. An act of wading. We had to be careful during our dangerous wade across the river.
  2. colloquial A ford; a place to cross a river.

wade²

  • /weɪd/
  • /wed/ Scotland

Sounds like wayed, weighed, wheyed (pane–pain merger, all not in Scotland) · Rhymes with -eɪd

noun

  1. obsolete, uncountable Obsolete form of woad Woad or Wade is a very rich Commodity

Wade³

  • /weɪd/

Sounds like wade, weighed, wheyed · Rhymes with -eɪd

Where it comes from

From Old English wæd (“a ford”).

proper noun Waide

  1. A topographic surname from Old English.
  2. A male given name transferred from the surname. In due time, Charles' son was born and, because it was fashionable to name boys after their fathers' commanding officers, he was called Wade Hampton Hamilton.
  3. A system of romanization for the Chinese language based on 19th-century Pekingese pronunciation, worked out by Thomas Wade.

    Similar: romanization system

  4. A town in Aroostook County, Maine.
  5. A census-designated place in Jackson County, Mississippi.
  6. A town in Cumberland County, North Carolina.
  7. An unincorporated community in Washington County, Ohio.
  8. Two townships in Illinois, in Clinton County and Jasper County.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: wad, plough, valley, wadi, bless, tatiana, david, tatyana, splash, ford, paddle, plod, slog, trudge, trek, stride

Translations

Every language

verb to walk through water or something that impedes progress

Españolvadear, esguazar
中文涉水 shèshuǐ
Portuguêsvadear
Françaispatauger
Deutschwaten
Italianoguadare, procedere a stento, avanzare lentamente
Русскийбрести bresti
Tiếng Việtlội

verb to progress with difficulty

Русскийпробираться probiratʹsja, продираться prodiratʹsja

noun act of wading

Españolvadeo
Portuguêsvadeação, vadeamento
Italianoguado

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Cite this
MLA

"wade." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wade. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

wade. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wade

Chicago

"wade." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wade.

BibTeX
@misc{wade_2026,
  title = {wade},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wade},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}