Middle English Dictionary Entry
wlak adj.
Entry Info
| Forms | wlak adj. Also wlak(k)e, wlach(e, wlaissh, wlech(e, vlake, vulache & (early) wlac(u, wlæc, wleach, wlecche, (infl.) wlacan. |
| Etymology | OE wlacu, wlac, wlæc; forms with -ch(e and -ssh perh. influenced by ME wlechen v. or OE wleccan. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
Note: Cp. flak adj., flash adj.
1.
(a) Lukewarm, tepid, warm;
(b) lacking in ardor or spirit, indifferent, languid; lacking in religious fervor; also, showing moderate feeling or passion, sympathetic [1st quot.];
(c) as noun: a person who is lacking in ardor or spirit.
Associated quotations
a
- ?a1200(OE) Hrl.HApul.(Hrl 6258B)133/3 : Nim…wurtewalan…do ðane on swiþe god beor, sile hit him þanne wlacu supan.
- ?a1200(?OE) PDidax.(Hrl 6258b)9/3 : Nim ladsar…and gnid hyt togadere mid wlacan ecede.
- ?a1200(?OE) PDidax.(Hrl 6258b)21/25 : [Nim] hwitne stor and laurberiȝie and ecede…and wlece hyt eall togadere, þæt hyt wlæc beo, and habbe on hys muþe swa wlac.
- c1225(?c1200) St.Juliana (Bod 34)63/679 : Hit [boiling pitch] colede anan ant warð hire ase wunsum as þah hit were a wlech beað, iwlaht for þen anes in forte beaðien.
- c1300 SLeg.Mich.(LdMisc 108)695 : Ȝif þov nimst riȝt puyr hot watur and dost cold þar-to, þov miȝt it makien euene wlach and entempri it so.
- (a1398) Trev.Barth.(Add 27944:Seymour)1335/29 : A litel þerof is ytempred wiþ a litil wlaissh melk.
- a1400 Add.15236 Recipes(3) (Add 15236)258.147 : Si post partum torsiones graves ultra modum habuerit in ventre…coletur fortiter per pannum et utatur paciens sepius isto potu et hoc semper tepide, i. wlakke, et liberabitur et sanabitur.
- a1425 *Medulla (Stnh A.1.10)65a/a : Tepefacio: to make vulache.
- c1465(?1373) *Lelamour Macer (Sln 5)77b : Take xv cornys of this erbe and grynde ham in vlake watir.
- a1450 Rwl.Bk.Hawking in Med.St.35 (Rwl C.506)360 : For hawkys iwoundyd…anoynt þe wounde and kepe it wythe wlake vyn.
- ?c1450 Stockh.PRecipes (Stockh 10.90)98/20 : For hym þat delytith noȝt in his mete: Take centorie, and sethe it in watir, and drynke it iii dayis wlak.
b
- a1200(?OE) Trin.Hom.(Trin-C B.14.52)151 : Ðe wop þe man wepeð for his emcristenes wowe cumeð of þe wlache heorte, alse þe sunne hete þe snow þat he hit for-melteð to watere.
- c1225(?c1200) HMaid.(Bod 34)38/653 : Te oðre, þe haldeð ham unforgult & cleane, beoð ase sikere unlusti & wlecche, unneaðe i godes luue wið uten euch heate of þe hali gast þe bearneð se lihte wið vte wastinde brune in alle his icorene.
- c1230(?a1200) Ancr.(Corp-C 402)105/3 : Þe Beore of heui slawðe haueð þeose hwelpes: Torpor is þe forme, þet is wlech heorte, vnlust to eni þing.
- c1230(?a1200) Ancr.(Corp-C 402)204/3,10 : Wlech luue is him lað, as he seið þurh sein iuhan i þe apocalipse…‘Ich walde…þet tu were i mi luue oðer allunge cald oðer hot mid alle, ah for þi þet tu art ase wlech [Tit: wleach] bitweone twa nowðer hat ne cald…& ich wulle speowe þe ut bute þu wurðe hattre.’
- a1400 Ancr.(Pep 2498)167/18 : Haue euer schire hert þus & do al þat þou wilt; haue wleche hert & al turneþ vn to yuel þat þou doost.
c
- c1230 Ancr.(Corp-C 402)58/23 : Alle we beoð i þis stream…Sone se we eauer wergið & resteð us i slawðe, ure bat geað hindward, & we beoð þe cang dohter þe gað woniende, þe wlecche þe godd speoweð.