wend

[ wend ]

/ wɛnd /

verb (used with object), wend·ed or (Archaic) went; wend·ing.

to pursue or direct (one's way).

verb (used without object), wend·ed or (Archaic) went; wend·ing.

to proceed or go.

Nearby words

Origin of wend

before 900; Middle English wenden, Old English wendan; cognate with Dutch, German wenden, Gothic wandjan, causative of -windan to wind²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wended

Lunch over, Peter left the two chums to their own devices and wended his way to The Croft.
Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S.|Percy F. Westerman
As we wended our way across the heath, I watched carefully the ground in advance.
The White Chief of the Caffres|A.W. Drayson
The Royalists of Craven made but slow progress as they wended their way southward.
Yorkshire Family Romance|Frederick Ross
He wended his way back to the bar for a bourbon-and-water and greeted the bartender morosely.
Occasion for Disaster|Gordon Randall Garrett

Jake wended his way back to the store, filled with renewed admiration for the great man.
Coniston, Complete|Winston Churchill

British Dictionary definitions for wended

wend

/ (wɛnd) /

verb

to direct (one's course or way); travelwend one's way home

Word Origin for wend

Old English wendan; related to Old High German wenten, Gothic wandjan; see wind ²

Wend

/ (wɛnd) /

noun

(esp in medieval European history) a Sorb; a member of the Slavonic people who inhabited the area between the Rivers Saale and Oder in the early Middle Ages and were conquered by Germanic invaders by the 12th centurySee also Lusatia

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for wended

Wend

member of a Slavic people of eastern Germany, 1610s (implied in Wendish), from German Wende, from Old High German Winida, related to Old English Winedas "Wends," ultimately from Celt. *vindo- "white."

wend

"to proceed on," Old English wendan "to turn, go," from Proto-Germanic *wandijanan (cf. Old Saxon wendian, Old Norse venda, Old Frisian wenda, Dutch wenden, German wenden, Gothic wandjan "to turn"), causative of Old English windan "to turn, twist" (see wind (v.)), from root *wand-, *wend- "turn." Surviving only in to wend one's way, and in hijacked past tense form went.