wench

American  

[wench] / wɛntʃ /

noun

1. a country lass or working girl.

   The milkmaid was a healthy wench.

2. Usually Facetious. a girl or young woman.

3. Archaic. a strumpet.

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verb (used without object)

1. to associate, especially habitually, with promiscuous women.

wench British  

/ wɛntʃ /

noun

1. a girl or young woman, esp a buxom or lively one: now used facetiously

2. archaic a female servant

3. archaic a prostitute

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verb

1. archaic to frequent the company of prostitutes

Other Word Forms

• wencher noun

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.

Example Sentences

“You definitely don’t feel like a device or a prop and you don’t feel like the sexy wench or the mother,” said Olivia Cooke, who plays the adult Alicent Hightower, longtime friend to Rhaenyra.

From Washington Times • Aug. 18, 2022

“The word wench is definitely not something that medieval people would use for a woman, especially in public, because that was a really insulting thing to call her,” Mitchell said.

From Washington Post • Nov. 27, 2018

Other changes have elicited fewer complaints than the deleted wench auction.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2018

Bosley Crowther of The Times called her character “a selfish, ambitious, fickle wench whose tender and lovable qualities might be compared to those of a threshing machine.”

From New York Times • Jul. 19, 2017

"I'd not have thought it, by that wench on the waterfront."

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin