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1063 entries found
wafer (n.)
late 14c., "thin cake of paste, generally disk-shaped," from Anglo-French wafre, Old North French waufre "honeycomb, wafer" (Old French gaufre "wafer, waffle"), probably from Frankish *wafel or another Germanic source (compare Flemish wafer, altered from Middle Dutch wafel "honeycomb;" see waffle (n.)). Eucharistic bread first so called 1550s.
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waffle (n.)
"kind of batter-cake, baked crisp in irons and served hot," 1744, from Dutch wafel "waffle," from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German wafel, from Proto-Germanic *wabila- "web, honeycomb" (source also of Old High German waba "honeycomb," German Wabe), related to Old High German weban, Old English wefan "to weave" (see weave (v.)). Sense of "honeycomb" is preserved in some combinations referring to a weave of cloth. Waffle iron is from 1794.
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waffle (v.)
1690s, "to yelp, bark," frequentative of provincial waff "to yelp, to bark like a puppy" (1610); possibly of imitative origin. Figurative sense of "talk foolishly" (c. 1700) led to that of "vacillate, equivocate" (1803), originally a Scottish and northern English usage. Late 17c. Scottish also had waff "act of waving," variant of waft, which might have influenced the sense. Related: Waffled; waffler; waffling.
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waft (v.)
c. 1500, transitive, "to move gently" (through the air), probably from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, ultimately from wachten "to guard" (perhaps via notion of a ship that guards another as it sails), related to waken "rouse from sleep," from Proto-Germanic *waht-, from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively." Possibly influenced by northern dialect waff "cause to move to and fro" (1510s), a variant of wave. Intransitive sense from 1560s. Related: Wafted; wafting.
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wag (v.)
early 13c. (intransitive), "waver, vacillate, lack steadfastness," probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse vagga "a cradle," Danish vugge "rock a cradle," Old Swedish wagga "fluctuate, rock" a cradle), and in part from Old English wagian "move backwards and forwards;" all from Proto-Germanic *wag- (source also of Old High German weggen, Gothic wagjan "to wag"), probably from PIE root *wegh- "to go, move, transport in a vehicle."

Transitive meaning "move (something) back and forth or up and down" is from c. 1300; of dogs and their tails from mid-15c.: "and whanne they [hounds] see the hure maystre they wol make him cheere and wagge hur tayles upon him." [Edward, Duke of York, "The Master of Game," 1456]. Related: Wagged; wagging. Wag-at-the-wall (1825) was an old name for a hanging clock with pendulum and weights exposed.
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wag (n.1)
"person fond of making jokes," 1550s, perhaps a shortening of waghalter "gallows bird," person destined to swing in a noose or halter, applied humorously to mischievous children, from wag (v.) + halter. Or possibly directly from wag (v.); compare wagger "one who stirs up or agitates" (late 14c.).
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wag (n.2)
"act of wagging," 1580s, from wag (v.).
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wage (v.)
c. 1300, "give (something) as surety, deposit as a pledge," from Old North French wagier "to pledge" (Old French gagier, "to pledge, guarantee, promise; bet, wager, pay," Modern French gager), from wage (see wage (n.)). Meaning "to carry on, engage in" (of war, etc.) is attested from mid-15c., probably from earlier sense of "to offer as a gage of battle, agree to engage in combat" (mid-14c.). Related: Waged; waging.
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wage (n.)
c. 1300, "a payment for services rendered, reward, just deserts;" mid-14c., "salary paid to a provider of service," from Anglo-French and Old North French wage (Old French gage) "pledge, pay, reward," from Frankish *wadja- or another Germanic source (compare Old English wedd "pledge, agreement, covenant," Gothic wadi "pledge"), from Proto-Germanic *wadi- (see wed (v.)).

Also from mid-14c., "a pledge, guarantee, surety" (usually in plural), and (c. 1400) "a promise or pledge to meet in battle." The "payment for service" sense by late 14c. extended to allotments of money paid at regular intervals for continuous or repeated service. Traditionally in English wages were payment for manual or mechanical labor and somewhat distinguished from salary or fee. Modern French cognate gages (plural) means "wages of a domestic," one of a range of French "pay" words distinguished by class, such as traitement (university professor), paye, salaire (workman), solde (soldier), récompense, prix. The Old English word was lean, related to loan and representing the usual Germanic word (Gothic laun, Dutch loon, German Lohn). Wage-earner attested from 1871.
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wager (v.)
c. 1600 (intransitive); 1610s (transitive), from wager (n.). Related: Wagered; wagering.
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