Middle English Dictionary Entry
wẹ̄ke-dai n.
Entry Info
| Forms | wẹ̄ke-dai n. Also wikdai, wok(e)dai, wockedai, woukedai, (Orm.) wukedaȝȝ. |
| Etymology | OE wic-dæg |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A day in a seven-day week;
(b) a week; also, a workweek; al) the ~, during the workweek.
Associated quotations
a
- c1175 Orm.(Jun 1)13182 : Ure wukedaȝȝ Bi twellfe timess erneþþ & iss neh efenn sons itt gaþ Inntill þe tende time.
- (c1384) WBible(1) (Dc 369(2))Mark 16.2 : Ful eerly in oon of woke [vr. the weke] dayes, thei camen to the sepulcre.
b
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)2857 : Anes o þe wok day [Göt: in þe wouke day; Trin-C: in þe wike] þan es sco liked al a-way.
- a1456(a1426) Lydg.Mum.Hertford (Trin-C R.3.20)69 : What euer he wan…Þe wykday…Sheo wolde on Sondayes drynk it at þe nale.
- c1450(c1415) Roy.Serm.(Roy 18.B.23)118/18 : Halow þi halyday, And…þanke God…of all þe good werkes þat þou hast done all þe weke-day be-fore.
- c1450 Alph.Tales (Add 25719)202/7 : Þer was a shomaker þat wold wurk all þe weke day, & on þe Satturday he wold evur go vnto þe kurk.
- a1500(c1410) Dives & P.(Htrn 270)1.9 : Men schuldyn so gouernyn hem in þe wockeday aforn þat hem schulde nout nedyn to brekyn þe halyday.
- a1500(c1410) Dives & P.(Htrn 270)1.276 : Þei þat wil nout gon ne sendyn to market in þe wokeday to byyn her necessarijs but onbydyn tyl on þe Sonday for sparyng of tyme, þey arn nout excusyd.
- a1500 *Medulla (Hrl 1738)34b/b : Hebdomada: a wok day [Stnh: a woke].
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- 1468 *Medulla (StJ-C C.22)30b/a : Dieretus: the woke day [Hrl 2257: dierectus: a woke day; Stnh: dierectus: wyckyd day; Cnt: Dierectus: dies malus, dysemale].
Note: Clearly originally "wikke day" (i.e. "wicked day, misfortune"); but does not -o- spelling suggest that scribe has mistaken "wike" for "week, & supplied the alternative -o- spelling (which doesn't suit "wikke")? His motive would be false recognition of the phrase "weekday." NB: "woke" meaning "weak" is also possible, but doesn't seem to make any sense at all. Could go under wikke as erroneous form, or s.v. wek(e n.(3) as an erroneous meaning.--per PFS