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Added 9 October 2026

wench

/wɛnt͡ʃ/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about wench at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one.
Jane played the role of a wench in an Elizabethan comedy.
A girl or young woman of a lower class.
Used as a term of endearment for a female person, especially a wife, daughter, or girlfriend: darling, sweetheart.

verb

To frequent prostitutes; to whore; also, to womanize.
To act as a wench.

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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