wench

1 of 2

noun

plural wenches
1
old-fashioned : a young woman or girl
"… why not ask the wench's hand from her father, if thou hadst any honesty in thy love for her?"Sir Walter Scott
2
a
old-fashioned : a female servant
a tavern wench
b
archaic : a girl or woman of a socially low class
They replied that they had seen nobody leave but a young girl, very shabbily dressed, and who had more the air of a poor country wench than a gentlewoman.Charles Perrault
3
archaic : a lewd or promiscuous woman : a female prostitute

wench

2 of 2

verb

wenched; wenching; wenches

intransitive verb

archaic
: to associate with and especially to have sexual relations with promiscuous women or prostitutes
wencher noun
plural wenchers
archaic

Examples of wench in a Sentence

Noun a local wench who was well-known at the town's tavern
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Was Gutenberg really in love with a wench named Helvetica, like in the show? Unlikely. Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2024 Maryland’s annual renaissance fair kicks off nine weekends of medieval celebrations, welcoming rogues, monks, maidens and wenches to step back to a time when owning a sword was cool. Haben Kelati, Washington Post, 24 Aug. 2023 The truck also comes equipped with some vital off-roading gear such as dual front tow hooks, an integrated wench and, of course, chunky all-terrain tires. Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 18 Aug. 2023 There are many solid gags among this motley crew — the pirate forever chasing his false eye, the parrot trained to speak for its mute master, the series of fetching wenches who deliver slaps to Sparrow for past wrongs. Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 July 2023 Directed by this tired tacky wench. Samantha Olson, Seventeen, 25 Oct. 2022 On the one hand, a wooden tendril growing out of a man’s back as the front of his body cavorts with a tavern wench is an amusing visual double entendre; some of the other CGI creatures, goofy mishmashes of various animals and insects, don’t inspire much fear. Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 17 Dec. 2021 This variant, which the company is calling the Adventure Series, has tubular doors, a front wench, KC Gravity Pro6 fog lamps and Black Rhino’s new Fuji Wheels wrapped in BF Goodrich mud tires. Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 14 Nov. 2022 Nothing says Christmas romance like jokes about douches, wenches, and medieval punishment. Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 19 Nov. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wench.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English wenche, short for wenchel child, from Old English wencel; akin to Old High German wankōn to totter, waver and probably to Old High German winchan to stagger — more at wink

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1599, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of wench was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near wench

Cite this Entry

“Wench.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wench. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

wench

noun
ˈwench
1
: a young woman : girl
2
: a female servant

More from Merriam-Webster on wench

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