wench

Meaning

Noun

1. (archaic, dialectal, humorous, offensive, possibly) A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one.
2. (archaic, dialectal, humorous, offensive, possibly, specifically) A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one.
3. (archaic, dialectal) Used as a term of endearment for a female person, especially a wife, daughter, or girlfriend: darling, sweetheart.
4. (archaic) A woman servant; a maidservant.
5. (archaic) A promiscuous woman; a mistress (“other woman in an extramarital relationship”).
6. (archaic) A prostitute.
7. (US, archaic, historical) A black woman (of any age), especially if in a condition of servitude.

Verb

1. (archaic, humorous, intransitive) To frequent prostitutes; to whore; also, to womanize.
2. (archaic, intransitive) To act as a wench.

Synonyms

girl

👧

lass

maid

dame

maiden

babe

doll

chick

damsel

bird

🐦

maidservant

prostitute

skirt

trull

whore

woman

👩

handmaid

harlot

hooker

jane

lady

damozel

lassie

mademoiselle

colleen

baby

👶

go whoring

malapert

mesdemoiselles

minx

molly

have sex with a prostitute

servant

servant girl

sexpot

signorina

visit prostitutes

slut

strumpet

suckling

trollop

blowze

servant maid

wife

👰‍♀️

bird

🐦

young woman

Abigail

damoiselle

Jill

loose woman

Translations

fille

👧

meid

👧

jeune fille

👧

ragazza

👧

meisje

Mädchen

👧

moça

👧

rapariga

👧

Frauenzimmer

garota

👧

κορίτσι

prostituta

gosse

🧒

Hure

kız

👧

Pronounced as (IPA)

/wɛnt͡ʃ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: wench

Inherited from Middle English: wenchel

Inherited from Old English: wenċel

Cognate with Old High German: wenken

In summary

The noun is derived from Middle English wench, wenche (“female baby; girl (especially unmarried); maiden, young woman; bondwoman; serving maid; beloved, sweetheart; concubine, mistress; harlot, prostitute”) [and other forms], a shortened form of Middle English wenchel (“girl; maiden; child”), from Old English wenċel, winċel (“child; servant; slave”), from Proto-Germanic *wankilą, from Proto-Germanic *wankijaną (“to sway; waver”). The English word is cognate with Old High German wenken (“to waver; to give way, yield”), wankōn (“to totter”).
The verb is derived from the noun.