Middle English Dictionary Entry

wē̆t adj.
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Entry Info

Forms wē̆t adj. Also wet(te, weit(e, weiete, weith, wite, wight, wot(e, whete, (chiefly N & NM) wat(e, (early) wæt(e & (in names) wet(t)en, weth(e)-, wethen-, weden-, weren-, witen-, witon, wath-, wad(den)-, wotten-, wut-, whet(t)en-, vat-, sueten- & (error) wepe.
Etymology OE wǣt, wāt adj.; also cp. ON: cp. OI: vātr. It is occas. difficult to distinguish some forms and uses of the adj. from those of the p.ppl. of ME wēten v.

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

1.
(a) Consisting of moisture, flowing, fluid, wet, liquid;—freq. used pleonastically of liquid substances: ~ se (teres), reines (teres, wateres, etc.) ~; (b) full of moisture; of cheese: ?fresh; ?error for swete adj.; (c) found in or by water, aquatic.
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2.
(a) Damp or sodden from exposure to the elements, bedewed, rain-soaked; also, drenched from immersion in a body of water; (b) of land, soil, a place, etc.: supplied with water, well watered; also, irrigated; also, saturated with water, water-logged, marshy, boggy; maken ~, to irrigate (land), water (the earth); (c) moist or damp from being sprinkled with, smeared with, or dipped in liquid or a semiliquid substance [some quots. difficult to distinguish from wet, p.ppl. of weten v.]; also, moist (with a thin coat of gold) [quot. ?a1475]; also [quot. ?c1425], of a medicinal preparation: ?moist; ?error for swete adj.; (d) of fabric, a piece of cloth: soaked in water, saturated, sodden; ~ cloth, cloth that has been wetted down or soaked during the process of fulling; (e) fig. ?dampened, subdued; ?also, error for swete adj. [1st quot.].
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3.
(a) Of wood: full of sap, not dried or cured, unseasoned, green; (b) fig. vigorous.
Show 6 Quotations
4.
Of the weather, a season, day, etc.: rainy, wet; of the world: ?suffering rainy or wet weather, stormy; ?fig. dismal; ~ air, damp air, humidity; ~ windes, windes ~, moisture-laden winds, wind-driven rains.
Show 15 Quotations
5.
(a) Phys. & physiol. Dominated by the quality of wetness, characterized by or associated with the primary quality of wetness; (b) astron. of a star, planet, etc.: wet in quality; also, bringing rain, associated with storms [quots. c1425 & a1450].
Show 11 Quotations
6.
(a) Wet with tears, tear-stained; of the eyes: tear-filled, weeping; also, watery, runny; also, fig. of well-being: extinguished (by weeping woe) [quot. a1450]; ~ with teres; (b) covered with sweat, sweaty; wet (with perspiration); bicomen ~ with swot, of the earth: to exude moisture like sweat; (c) covered with drool, beslobbered; (d) wet with blood, bloody, gory; also, exuding blood, bleeding; blod (blodi) ~; waxen ~, of soil: to become saturated with blood; of a wound: bleed; (e) ?saturated with pus, soaked with matter; (f) hawk. ~ craie, craie ~, diarrhea; med. ~ scabbe, a morbid condition of the skin characterized by formation of pustules, suppuration, etc.; ~ scabbes, scabbes ~, pustules.
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7.
In phrase: ~ of wine, intoxicated with wine, wine-drunk [cp. weten v. 4.(a)].
Show 1 Quotation
8.
In surnames and place names [see Smith PNElem. 2.230,238,257].
Show 26 Quotations

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 6.(f)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. wet scab.

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