"Wench" in the Oxford English Dictionary and Through the Ages

The English language is very complex. This is due to the amount of words that we have borrowed from other languages. Not only does this cause confusion, but also the meanings of words evolve over time. To trace the meanings of these words could be very difficult, but thanks to our updated dictionaries and the many researchers that look up these words, we can easily find their origins. If I had to select a word to look up though, I would want to find an interesting word. That is why I chose the word wench.

Wench is a very interesting word, because every source says something different concerning its meaning and origin. The best answer I found though says that wench came from the word wencel, which is from Old English. I was very surprised to note that wench is a native English word. I would have certainly thought that it would have been from another language since it is such an interesting word. The earliest use of the word, wench, was in 1290 AD (Harper).

As I previously noted, wench, has greatly changed in its meaning throughout history. Even though it has had many meanings, I am only going to highlight some of the main meanings here. The first meaning of wench is a "girl, maid, young woman" (Oxford English Dictionary). This was first used in the year 1290 and was a part of Middle English. The word did not take too long to change in its broad meaning though and by 1362, its definition changed to "a wanton woman; a mistress" (Oxford English Dictionary). This definition is quite clear in this quote from 1386, "I am a gentil womman and no wenche" (Oxford English Dictionary). This quote says that a wench is not a nice, gentle woman, but a mistress or prostitute. This was a part of Middle English as well. From the first to second definition, the word wench went through the semantic change process of narrowing. It used to refer to only a woman, but it changed to referring to a specific type of woman. Then, less than twenty years later it again shifted its meaning to "female servant, maidservant, serving-maid" (Oxford English Dictionary). This happened in 1380 and was also a part of Middle English. Again, this word went through a semantic change process. A different process occurred though called amelioration. The word used to have a bad connotation associated with it, but it changed to having a more positive meaning of only a maidservant. Finally, in 1581, it took the definition of "a familiar or endearing form of address; used chiefly in addressing a daughter, wife, or sweetheart" (Oxford English Dictionary). This definition is shown in a quote from 1613 between Katherine to her woman, Patience. "When I am dead, good Wench, Let me be vs'd with Honor" (Oxford English Dictionary). This was a drastic change in its overall meaning and was a part of Early Modern English. This definition also went through the semantic change process of amelioration. It changed from a maidservant to someone likeable and endearing (Oxford English Dictionary). Though all of these definitions have been used throughout history, the word is used quite differently today. In today's society is has taken a few of these definitions and mixed them. Depending on the context of the conversation, it could have drastically different meanings. If you refer to someone as a wench now, you would be referring to them as "a sexually loose or immoral woman" or in other words, a prostitute (wench). If you would go to a Renaissance Faire though, a wench would refer to a maidservant of some type.

Words are not always what they seem. Every word has a unique history and this history could span hundreds, even thousands of years. I also never realized how much words actually change. Even a word as simple as wench has changed a lot since its entrance into the English language. I have learned throughout this project to not underestimate words and to realize that every word has a unique history that is significant and worthwhile to research.

In conclusion,the word wench has a very unique history. Its definition has changed greatly since its entrance into the English language. These changes have happened through processes known as semantic changes including narrowing and amelioration. Through all of the semantic changes that have happened to this word, it has made the meaning in today's society difficult to decide. This is because every definition that has been made referring to the word wench is still concurrent in today's society. None of the definitions became dead. With every definition being concurrent in today's society, you can greatly see the importance semantic changes have on words as they progress through history. This notion of having multiple meanings for different words is another aspect that has become clearer through this project. Though I did not expect to learn very much as I started this project, the word wench has taught me a great deal about the significance of words and their histories which has made me very grateful.

Works Cited

Harper, Douglas. Nov 2001. Online Etymology Dictionary. 26 Apr 2009 .

"wench." Oxford English Dictionary, 1989. Oxford English Press. 26 April 2009 .

"wench." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009. Your Dictionary. 26 April 2009