wade

Meaning

Verb

1. (intransitive) To walk through water or something that impedes progress.
2. (intransitive) To progress with difficulty.
3. (transitive) To walk through (water or similar impediment); to pass through by wading.
4. To gleam intermittently through clouds or mist.
5. (intransitive) To enter recklessly.

Noun

1. An act of wading.
2. (colloquial) A ford; a place to cross a river.

Noun

Obsolete form of woad.

Synonyms

ford

paddle

cross over

dabble

experience

float

go

go through

involve

pad

passing

puddle

push through

slosh

splash

squish

swim

🏊

traipse

trudge

footslog

stride over

wade across

struggle through

go swimming

walk in water

advance

walk with difficulty

billow

Translations

waten

patauger

waden

vadear

guadare

vadear

flodderen

plassen

marcher dans l’eau

sguazzare

atravessar

vadare

βαδίζω στο νερό

Pronounced as (IPA)

/weɪd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: waden

Inherited from Old English: wadan

Cognate with German: waten

Cognate with Latin: vādō

In summary

From Middle English waden, from Old English wadan, from Proto-West Germanic *wadan, from Proto-Germanic *wadaną (“to go, pass through”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂dʰ- (“to go”). Cognates include Saterland Frisian waadje (“to wade”), West Frisian wâdzje (“to wade”), Dutch waden (“to wade”), German Low German waden (“to wade”), German waten (“to wade”), Danish vade (“to wade”), Swedish vada (“to wade”), Icelandic vaða (“to wade”), and Latin vādō (“go, walk; rush”).