wench
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wench
- /wɛnt͡ʃ/
Rhymes with -ɛntʃ
Where it comes from
The noun is derived from Middle English wench, wenche (“female baby; girl (especially unmarried); maiden, young woman; bondwoman; serving maid; beloved, sweetheart; concubine, mistress; harlot, prostitute”) [and other forms], a shortened form of Middle English wenchel (“girl; maiden; child”), from Old English wenċel, winċel (“child; servant; slave”), from Proto-Germanic *wankilą, from Proto-Germanic *wankijaną (“to sway; waver”). The English word is cognate with Old High German wenken (“to waver; to give way, yield”), wankōn (“to totter”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
noun wenches · wenchen
- A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one. Jane played the role of a wench in an Elizabethan comedy.
- A girl or young woman of a lower class. The woman is a brazen, hard-looking wench, a female pedlar, who hawks needles, thread, cheap looking-glasses, pious pictures, almanacs, hair-pins, ballads, of the most humble pattern, through the country.
- Used as a term of endearment for a female person, especially a wife, daughter, or girlfriend: darling, sweetheart. When I am dead, good Wench, / Let me be vs'd with Honor; ſtrew me ouer / With Maiden Flowers, that all the world may know / I was a chaſte Wife, to my Graue: [...]
- A woman servant; a maidservant. When they had kyndled a fyre in the myddes of the palys / and were sett doune to gedder / Peter alsoo sate doune amonge them. And won off the wenches / as he sate / beholde him by the light and sett goode eyesight on him / and sayde: This same was also with hym. Then he denyed hym sayinge: Woman I k
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A promiscuous woman; a mistress (“other woman in an extramarital relationship”).
2 [Friar Bernardine]. Thou haſt committed— / Bar[abas]. Fornication? but that was in another Country; And beſides, the Wench is dead.
Similar: NB: All terms are usually pejorative unless stated otherwise., 304, alley cat, alleycat, amorette, amoret, amorosa, article, Athanasian wench, blowsabella, bop, chippy
- A prostitute.
-
A black woman (of any age), especially if in a condition of servitude.
Nancy Basset, 28, likely wench, mulatto / Proved to be free. / Certified free as per General Birch Certificate. / / Patience Jackson, 23, very likely wench, mulatto / Says she was born free Rhode Island. / Certified free as per General Birch Certificate.
Similar: negress
verb wenches · wenching · wenched · wench
- To frequent prostitutes; to whore; also, to womanize. This is ſure ſome hide-bound ſtudent, that proportions his expence by his penſion; and wencheth at Tottenham court for ſtewed prunes and cheeſcakes.
- To act as a wench. λαικάζω (laikázō), to wench
Translations
Every language
noun (archaic) girl or young woman
| Español | moza |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | औरत aurat |
| Português | moça |
| Français | jeune fille, jeune femme, fille |
| Deutsch | Magd, Mädchen, Mädel |
| Italiano | ragazza, fanciulla |
| Русский | де́вка dévka, деви́ца devíca, де́вушка dévuška |
noun (archaic) woman servant
| Español | criada |
|---|---|
| Français | servante |
| Deutsch | Magd, Dienerin |
| Italiano | domestica, donna di servizio |
noun (archaic) promiscuous woman
| हिन्दी | औरत aurat |
|---|---|
| Français | femme facile, Marie-couche-toi-là, femme de petite vertu |
| Deutsch | Flittchen, Schlampe |
| Русский | де́вка dévka, проститу́тка prostitútka |
noun (archaic) prostitute
| Español | prostituta |
|---|---|
| Português | rapariga |
| Français | prostituée, femme de petite vertu |
| Deutsch | Hure |
verb to frequent prostitutes
| Español | ir de putas |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 嫖妓 piáojì |
| Français | aller au bordel |
| Deutsch | huren |
| Русский | таска́ться по ба́бам po |
Talk about this word "wench." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wench. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. wench. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wench "wench." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wench.Cite this
@misc{wench_2026,
title = {wench},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wench},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
