wend

[wend]

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.

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

Related Words for wending

meander, saunter, go, travel, journey, pass, proceed, shift, alter

Examples from the Web for wending

Contemporary Examples of wending

In Kansas, as in many states, challenges to same-sex marriage bans are wending their way through the courts.
Gay Marriage Chaos Begins
Jay Michaelson
November 11, 2014
Lepore has a different, though still linear, metaphor for the history of feminism: “a river, wending.”
Wonder Woman’s Creation Story Is Wilder Than You Could Ever Imagine
Tom Arnold-Forster
November 3, 2014

Historical Examples of wending

See how the crowd are wending their way hither to the temple.
The Buddha
Paul Carus
On the Sabbath after their wending he preached from the text, "Send men to Joppa."
Scotch Wit and Humor
W. H. (Walter Henry) Howe
Even as Dick had said, the hotel—whither all this time they had been wending—was crowded.
Harley Greenoak's Charge
Bertram Mitford
For after the banners well we knew Were the Freemen wending two and two.
Poems by the Way
William Morris
Wending their way over the plains, they finally spied the herd.
Colorado--The Bright Romance of American History
F. C. Grable

British Dictionary definitions for wending

wend

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

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 wending

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.