英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

wheaten (adj.)[wheaten 词源字典]: "made of wheat," Old English hwæten; see wheat + -en (2).[wheaten etymology, wheaten origin, 英语词源]
whee: exclamation of exhilaration, 1920.
wheedle (v.): "to influence by flattery," 1660s, of uncertain origin, perhaps connected with Old English wædlian "to beg," from wædl "poverty" [OED], or borrowed by English soldiers in the 17c. German wars from German wedeln "wag the tail," hence "fawn, flatter" (compare adulation). Related: Wheedled; wheedling.
wheel (n.): Old English hweol, hweogol "wheel," from Proto-Germanic *hwewlaz- (cognates: Old Norse hvel, Old Swedish hiughl, Old Frisian hwel, Middle Dutch weel), from PIE *kw(e)-kwl-o- "wheel, circle," suffixed, reduplicated form of root *kwel- (1) (see cycle (n.)).
The root wegh-, "to convey, especially by wheeled vehicle," is found in virtually every branch of Indo-European, including now Anatolian. The root, as well as other widely represented roots such as aks- and nobh-, attests to the presence of the wheel -- and vehicles using it -- at the time Proto-Indo-European was spoken. [Watkins, p. 96]
Figurative sense is early 14c. Wheel of fortune attested from early 15c. Slang wheels "a car" is recorded from 1959. Wheeler-dealer is from 1954, a rhyming elaboration of dealer.
wheel (v.): "to turn like a wheel," c. 1200, from wheel (n.); transitive sense attested from late 14c. Related: Wheeled; wheeling.
wheel-house (n.): also wheelhouse, 1835, "structure enclosing a large wheel," especially one over the steering wheel of a steamboat, thus "pilot house;" from wheel (n.) + house (n.). Baseball slang sense of "a hitter's power zone" attested by 1990.
wheelbarrow (n.): mid-14c., from wheel (n.) + barrow (n.1).
wheelchair (n.): also wheel-chair, c. 1700, from wheel + chair (n.).
wheelie (n.): 1966, from wheel (n.) + -ie.
wheelwright (n.): "one who makes or fits wheels," c. 1300 (mid-13c. as a surname), from wheel (n.) + wright (n.).
wheeze (v.): mid-15c., probably from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse hvoesa "to hiss," Danish hvæse cognate with Old English hwæst "act of blowing," hwosan "to cough," from an imitative root. Related: Wheezed; wheezing. The noun is first recorded 1834.
wheezy (adj.): 1818, from wheeze + -y (2). Related: Wheezily; wheeziness.
whelk (n.): marine snail with a spiral shell, Old English weoloc, wioloc, from Proto-Germanic *weluka- (cognates: Middle Dutch willoc, Dutch wulk), perhaps from PIE root *wel- (3) "to turn, revolve" (see volvox; also volute). The unetymological spelling with wh- dates from 15c.
whelm (v.): early 14c., probably from a parallel form of Old English -hwielfan (West Saxon), -hwelfan (Mercian), in ahwelfan "cover over;" probably altered by association with Old English helmian "to cover," from Proto-Germanic *hwalbjan, from PIE *kwelp- "to arch" (see gulf (n.)).
whelp (n.): Old English hwelp "whelp, young of the dog," from a Germanic root related to Old Saxon hwelp, Old Norse hvelpr, Dutch welp, German hwelf; of unknown origin. Now largely displaced by puppy. Also applied to wild animals. Sense of "scamp" first recorded early 14c.
whelp (v.): c. 1200, from whelp (n.). Related: Whelped; whelping.
when (adv.): Old English hwænne, hwenne, hwonne, from Proto-Germanic *hwan- (cognates: Old Saxon hwan, Old Frisian hwenne, Middle Dutch wan, Old High German hwanne, German wann "when," wenn "if, whenever"), from pronominal stem *hwa-, from PIE interrogative base *kwo- (see who). Equivalent to Latin quom, cum. As a conjunction in late Old English. Say when "tell me when to stop pouring you this drink" is from 1889.
whenas (adv., conj.): early 15c., from when + as.
Whenas in silks my Julia goes
Then, then (methinks) how sweetly flows
That liquefaction of her clothes.

[Robert Herrick (1591-1674)]
whence (adv., conj.): early 13c., whennes, with adverbial genitive -s, from Old English hwanone, related to hwænne (see when). Spelling with -ce (1520s) reflects the voiceless pronunciation.
whenever (adv., conj.): late 14c., from when + ever.