Wene, n. Sav. guess, supposition ; withouten wene, Wente, went, pa. t. of wende; went at borde, lived as a boarder Went, n. a way, a paffage, turn in walking; in bed Went, for want Wep, pa. t. of wepe, v. Sar. wept Were, for weren, ind. m. pa. t. pl. of am, v. Sax. it is fometimes used for had, according to the Fr. custom, with reflected verbs, thise riotoures— were set hem in a tavern for to drinke-s'étoient mis, sétoient affis Were, fubj. m. pa. t. fing. e. g. as it were; if on of hem were; whether the were; were it; it were a game Were, v. Sax. to wear, to defend a were is fet, fon cueur a mys en tel guerre; Were, n. Sax, for catching fish Weren, pa. t. pl. of am. v. Sar. were Werne, v. as Warne Werre, n. Fr. war Werrie, Fr. to make war against Werfe, comp. d. of ill, adv. Sax. worse Werfe, comp. d. of bad, adj. Sax. worse Wery, adj. Sax. weary Wefh, pa. t. of wash, v. Sax. washed Weftren, inf. m. v. Sax. to tend toward the weft Wether, n. Sax. the weather-a caftrated ram Weve, v. Sax, to weave Weve, v. Sax. to put off, to prevent. See Weive❘ Wex, pa. t. of waxe or wexe, v. Sax. waxed, grew Wexing, part. pr. increasing Weyeden, pa. t. pl. weighed. See Waye What, pron interrog. Sax. is often used by itself as a fort of interjection; what! What, pron. indef. fomething, a little; what for love and for diftrefs, partly for love and partly for diftrefs; wete ye what? do ye know fomething? ne elles what? nor any thing else What, when joined to a ". fubft. (either expressed or underftood) is a mere adj. anfwering to qualis, Lat. quel, Fr. what they weren, what men they were; what fo, what that, whatsoever, Wheder, conj. Sax. whether and Ther-Wherfore, wherin, wherthrough, wherwith, when used interrogatively, wherof, wherwith Whether, adj. Sax. which of two Whette, part. pa. of whet, v. Sax. sharpened Whiche, pron. rel. Sax. who, whom, adj. what, what fort of While, n. Sax. time; in this mene while, in the Whilom, adv. Sax. once, on a time Who, pron. rel. Sax. it is generally expreffed by that Whos, gen ca. fing. Who, pron. indef. For wel thou woft the name as yet of her where as who fayth feems to be equivalent to as one fhould fay: the fame phrafe is fometimes ufed to introduce a fuller explanation of a paffage, as we might ufe-that is to say-who so, who that, whofoever Wide-where, adv. Sax. widely, far and near Wifhood, n. Sax. the state of a wife Wifly, adj. Sax. becoming a wife Wight, n. Sax. a perfon, male or female, a fmal! fpace of time, weight, a witch; wytch cleped nyght mare Wight, adj. Sax. active, fwift; of hem that ben deliver and wight, Conf. Am. 177, b. Wightes, n. pl. witches Wike, n. for weke Wiket, n. Fr. a wicket Wikke, adj. Sax. wicked William St. Amour, a doctor of the Sorbonne in the 13th century, who took a principal part in the dispute between the university of Paris and the Dominican friars Willy, adj. Sax. favourable Wiln, for willen, pl. n. of wille, v. Sax. Wimple, z. Fr. a covering for the neck; it is diftinguished from a veil, which covered the head alfo Wering a vaile inftede of wimple, As nonnes don in hir abbey. Windas, n. Fr. guindal, an engine to raife ftones, &c. Winde, v. Sax. to turn round Winde, as Wende, to go Wher, in compofition, fignifies which. See Here Winne, v. Sax, to gain, to attain VOL. 1. Wiffe, v. Sax. to teach, to direct; fo God me wiffe, Wonne, part pa. of winne, v. Sax. won, conquer. fo may God direct me. Wifte, pa. t. of wifte, v. Sar. knew Wite, . Sax. to know, to blame, to impute to wite it the ale of Southwark, impute it to the ale of Southwark; or blame the ale of Southwark for it Wite, n. Sax. blame With, prep. Sax. is ufed in the fense of by; was with the leon frette, was devoured by the lion; in with his thought, in with hire bofom, within his thought, within her bofom; with mefchance, with mefchance and with mifaventure,with forwe and with mefchance; with forwe,are phrafes of the fame import as God yeve him meschance, God yeve me forwe: they are all to be confidered as parenthetical curfes, ufed with more or less ferioufnefs; and fo are the following phrases, with evil prefe, with harde grace, with fory grace Withholde, v. Sax. to stop Withholden, withhold, part. pa. retained, detained Withfaye, withfeye, v. to contradict, to deny Witte, n. Sax. understanding, capacity-to my witte; in my judgment Wittes, n. pl. Sax. the fenfes of man Wivere, n. Sax, a ferpent Wlatfom, adj. Sax. loathfome Wo, n. Sax. wo, forrow-wo were us; wher me were wo, are expreffions derived from the Saxon language, in which us and me were equivalent to nobis and mihi, without the addition of the prep. to Wo, adj. Sax. forrowful Wo-begon, far gone in wo. See begon ed, begotten Wont, part. pa. of wone, accustomed Worldes, gen. ca. of world, n. Sax. is used in the fense of the adj. worldly; every worldes fore; my worldes blis Wort, n. Sar. a cabbage, new beer in a state of fermentation Worth, v. Sax. to be, to go, wo worthe! unhap- Wote, wot, v. Sax. to know, wot, pa. f. knew Wraie, v. Sax. to betray, discover Wrawe, adj. Sax. peevish, angry; wrawe, froward, ungoodly Wrawness, n. peevishness Wray, as wraie Wreche, n. Sax. revenge Wrenches, n. pl. Sax. frauds, ftratagems Wreft, v. Sax. to twift; the nightingale with so great might hire voice began out wrell-to turn forcibly Wrethen, part. pa. of writhe-wrethen in fere, twisted together; in Urry's edit. it is printed -within in fere Wreye, v. as wraie Wrie, v. Sax. to cover, to turn, to incline Wright, n. Sax. a workman [ture Wrine, for wrien, inf. m. of wrie Wode, wood, adj. Sax. mad, violent; for wode, Writhe,. Sax. to twift, to turn afide, like any thing mad Wode, v. Sax. to grow mad Wol, v. auxil. Sax. to will; it is used fometimes by ` itself, the inf. v. being understood, as she to water wolde, i, e. would diffolve into water; and to the wood he wbl, i. e. will go, ful many a man hath he begiled er this, and wol. i. e. will beguile [man Wolde, pa. t. would, wolden, pa. t. fubj. m. wolde The yerde is bet that bowen wol and winde Wonde, ja. t. of wone, dwelled Wonder, adj. Sax. cuftom, ufage, habitation, a heap, an alienbly 1 Y, at the beginning of many words, especially verbs and participles, is merely a corruption of the Saxon ge, which has remained uncorrupted in the other collateral branches of the Gothic language; what the power of it may have been originally, it is impossible, perhaps, now to determine: in Chaucer it does not appear to have any effect upon the fenfe of a word, fo that there seems to be no neceffity for inferting in a gloffary fuch words as ybleffed, ygranted, &c. which differ not in fignification from bleffed, granted, &c. Some, however, of this fort are 4 inferted, which may ferve at least to fhew more clearly the extent of this practice in Chaucer's time. Several other words are fhortly explained under this letter, of which a more full explanation may be found under their refpective fecond letters Ya, adv. Sax. yea; it is ufed emphatically with both; ya bʊthe yonge and olde; ye both faire and good Yaf, pa. t. of yave, v. Sax. gave Yalte, for yelte; yalte him, yieldeth himself Yate, n. Sax. a gate Yave, pa. t. of yeve, gave Y-be, part. pa. been Y-beried, part. pa. buried Y-bete, v. a. to beat, ftamp, imprint Y-bient, part. pa. of blenche, fhrunk, started a fide Y-blint, part, pa. blinded Y-bore, part. pa. of bère, born, carried Y-chaped, part. pa. furnished with chapes, from chappe, Fr. See Corven Y-clouted, part. pa. wrapped in clouts or rags Y-crafed, part. pa. Y-deled, part. pa. broken diftributed Y-dight, part. pa. adorned Y-do, part. pa. done, finished Y-drawe, part. pa. drawn Ye, adv. Sux. as Ya; ye wis, yea certainly Yeddinges, would feem to mean ftory-telling Yede, part. pa. of yede, v. Sax. went Yefte, n. Six. a gift; yeftes, pl. Yelde, v. Sax. to yield, to give, to pay; God yelde you! God reward you! Yelieden, pa. t. pl. of yelle, v. Sax. Yelpe, v. Sax. to prate, to boast Yelte, for yeldeth Yeman, n. Sex. a fervant of middling rank; a bailiff-Yemen, pl. Yemaurie, . the rank of yeoman Yerne, adj. Sax. brifk, eager Yerne, adv, brifkly, eagerly, early, foon, immediately Yerne, v. to defire, to feck eagerly Yeten, part. pa. gotten Yeve, v. Sax. to give Yeven, yeve, part. pa. given Y-feined, part. pa. lordes heftes may not bèn y-feined, the commands of fovereigns may not be executed with a feigned pretended zeal, they must be executed ftrictly and fully Y-fette, part. pa. fetched Y-fonden, part. pa. found Y-foftered, part. pa, educated Y-freten, part. på. devoured Y-geten, part. pa. gotten Y-glued, part. pa. glewed, faftened with glew Yonghede, n. Sax. youth Yore, adv. Sax. of a long time, a little before; yore agon, long ago; in olde times yore, of time yore Yove, p. t. of yeve, gave Youre, pron. p. Sax. is ufed for youres Youres, pron. poff. Sax. used generally when the noun to which it belongs is underfood or placed before it; he was an old felaw of youres, he was an old companion of yours, i. e. of or among your companions Youthhede, n. Sax. youth Yoxe, v. Sax. to hiccough Y-piked, part. pa. picked, fpruce Y-queint, part. pa. quenched Y-reight, pa. t. reached Y-reken, feems to be put for the old part. pr. y-rekend, reeking Yren, n. Sux, iron Y-rent, part. p. torn Y-ronne, y-ronnen, part. pr. run Y-ferved, part. pr. treated Y-fette, part. pl. fet, placed, appointed Y-fope, pr. n. So the name of the fabulift was commonly written, notwithstanding the diftinction pointed out by the following technical verse: Yfopus eft herba, fed fopus dat bona verba fop In this and many other paffages which are quoted from Efop, by writers of the middle ages, it is not eafy to fay what author they mean the Greek collections of fables which are now current under the name of were unknown, I apprehend, in this part of the world at the time that Melibee was written: Phædrus too had difappeared: Avienus indeed was very generally read. He is quoted as fop by John of Salisbury, Polycrat. 1. vii. Ut fopo, vel Avieno, credas.But the name of top was chiefly appropriated to Z zij 2 the anonymous author of fixty fables in ele- The man goes home and gives two of them to his wife. Soon after, as they are dining upon a chine of mutton, the wife feels a longing for the marrow, and not being able to get at it, the wishes that her husband had an iron beak (long cam li witecoes, Fr. long as the woodcock) to extract this marrow for her: an excrefcence being immediately formed accordingly, the husband angrily wishes it off from his own face upon his wife'sAnd here the ftory is unluckily defective in both copies; but it is easy to fuppofe that the third and last remaining wish was employed by the wife for her own relief.——A fable upon a fimilar idea, in Fr. verfe, may be feen in mf. Bodl. 1687, the fame, as I apprehend, with one in the king's library at Paris, [mf. n. 7989, fol. 189,] which is entitled Les quatre foulaits Sainz Martin See Fabliaux, &c. t. iii. p. 311. The vanity of human withes is there expoted with more pleafantry than in the ftory juft cited, but, as it often happens, with much lefs decency Y-fowe, part. pa. sown Y-fpreint, part. pa. fprinkled Y-flicked, part. pa. fticked, thruft Y-ftorven part. pa. dead Y-take, pari. pa. taken Y-teyed, part. pa, tied Y-trefpafed, part. pa. trespassed Y-vanished, part. pa. fpica. I have feen an edition of them in 1503 by Wynkyn de Worde, in which they are entitled fimply Efopi Fabule: the fubjects are for the most part plainly taken from Phædrus, but it may be doubted whether the author copied from the orig. work of Phædrus or from fome verfion of it into Latin profe. Several verfions of this kind are still extant in nif.; one of very confiderable antiquity has been publifhed by Nilant, Lugd. Bat. 1709, under the title of Fabule Antique, together with another of a later date, which is pretended to have been made from the Greek by an emperor Romulus, for the ufe of his fon Tiberinus. They all fhew evident marks of being derived from one com mon origin, like what has been obferved of the feveral Greek collections of Efopian fables in profe; Differt. de Babrio. Lond. 1776, like them too they differ very much from one another in ftyle, order of fables, and many little particulars; and, what is moft material, each of them generally contains a few fables, either invented or ftolen by its refpective compiler, which are not to be found in the other collections, fo that it is often impracticable to verify a quotation from Efop in the writers of Chaucer's time, unlefs we happen to light upon the identical book of fables which the writer Yvel, adj. Sax. bad, unfortunate who quotes had before him.- -I have print-Yvel, adv. Sax. ill ed in the Difcourfe, c. n. 29, a fable of The Yvoire, n. Fr. ivory Cock and the Fox, from the Fr. Efope of Ma- Y-wimpled, part. pa. covered with a wimple rie, which is not to be found in any other col-Y-wis, adv. Sax. certainly lection that I have feen, and which I fuppofe Y-wrake, pa. t. wreaked, revenged furnished Chaucer with the fubject of his Non-Y-wrie, part. pa. covered nes Proeftes Tale. In the fame Fr. Æfop, and in a Lat. mf. Bibl. Reg. 15. A. vii. there is a fable which I think might have given the hint for Prior's Ladle. A country fellow one day laid hold of a faery, (un folet, Fr.) who in Zeuxis, pr. n. a Grecian painter order to be fet at liberty gave him thice withes. Several improbable conjectures, which have been mulus: book iv. contains the remaining fables of Romulus in profe only. The fifth book has not more than one or two fables which had ever appeared before under the name of Afop; the reft are taken from the Gefa RomaThe fixth and laft book contains feventeen fables with the norum, the Calilaba Damnab, and other obfcurer authors. following title, Sequuntur fabule nove Esopi ex translatione Remicii. There has been a great diversity of opinion (See Praef. Nilant,) while fome have confounded him among learned men concerning this Remicius or Rimicius, with the fictitious Romulus, and others have confidered him as the editor of this collection. I have no doubt that the perfon meant is that Rinucius who tranflated the Hfe of fop by Planudes and ninety-fix of his fables from the Greek into Latin, about the middle of the 15th centranflation of the epiftles of Hippocrates, mí. Harl. 3527. tury. (See Fabric. Bibl. Med. t. in v. Rimicies. In his he is ftyled in one place Verdenfis, and in another Caftilionerfts) All the fables from Remicius which compute this fixth book, as well as the life of Efop, which is profeffedly taken from Rimicius, are to be found in this tranilation by Rinucius. There is an edition of it printed at Milan hands of the German collector ia mf. fome years fooner, as about 1480, but it might very poffibly have come into the the first tranflations of Greek authors were eagerly fought very few perfons were capable of reading the originals, after and circulated through Europe at that time, when |