wench
Americannoun
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a country lass or working girl.
The milkmaid was a healthy wench.
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Usually Facetious. a girl or young woman.
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Archaic. a strumpet.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a girl or young woman, esp a buxom or lively one: now used facetiously
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archaic a female servant
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archaic a prostitute
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has wenchedperfect 3rd person singular
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have wenchedperfect
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has been wenchingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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wenchingparticiple
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have been wenchingperfect progressive
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am wenchingprogressive 1st person singular
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is wenchingprogressive 3rd person singular
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wenchessingular 3rd person
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are wenchingprogressive
Past
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had wenchedperfect
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wenchedparticiple
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had been wenchingperfect progressive
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was wenchingprogressive singular
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were wenchingprogressive plural
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wenchedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of wench
1250–1300; Middle English, back formation from wenchel, Old English wencel child, akin to wancol tottering, said of a child learning to walk; akin to German wankeln to totter
Explanation
Wench used to mean young girl, so if you find someone describing a lovely wench in Shakespeare, it means a lovely girl. Wench comes from Middle English, and was a common word for girl, child, or servant. Over time it came to mean mainly serving girls, as in a bar wench, who serves drinks at a tavern. Eventually it came to mean prostitute. If you find wench in a love poem from the 16th century, think of it as an informal version of maiden. But if someone called you a wench last week, you should be insulted.
Vocabulary lists containing wench
Kindred
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The Taming of the Shrew
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The Merchant of Venice
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rachael’s newspaper column describes her adventures from a female pumper’s point of view, and she signs herself “Rachael Van Horn, a.k.a. The Wench with a Wrench.”
From The New Yorker • Feb. 11, 2019
Many actors would have sighed and buckled down, hoping that Third Wench would eventually – somehow – metamorphose into something more meaningful.
From The Guardian • Oct. 24, 2017
In 1989 the Crime Writers’ Association of Britain gave him its Golden Dagger for “The Wench Is Dead,” in which Morse solved a century-old murder while recuperating in a hospital.
From New York Times • Mar. 21, 2017
Her research into the topic turned into the novel "Wench," out in paperback Tuesday.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 22, 2011
“We should go to Torrhen’s Square and join the fight,” urged Quenton Greyjoy, a distant cousin and captain of the Salty Wench.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
