wield
Rule, command; power, control, wielding.
Noun
- Rule, command; power, control, wielding.
- What boots it if I beat the heathen home, And fold the mountains in my wield, and fire […] - 1872, George Francis Savage-Armstrong, The tragedy of Israel, volume 2, page 64:
- […] telling him of the treasures concealed in the cave, of the mysterious ring and tarnhelmet, possessing which he can hold the wield of the world. - 1887, Richard Wagner, Siegfried:
- All wealth in my wield is, I know by my wit […] - 1968, John Allen, Masters of British Drama, page 32:
Origin
From Middle English welde, from Old English *wield, ġewield (“power, control, dominion”), from Proto-West Germanic *waldi, from Proto-Germanic *waldiz (“power, might, control”).
Forms
Verb
- To handle with skill and ease, especially a weapon or tool.
- To exercise (authority or influence) effectively.
- The question isn't whether AI will reshape human society—it's whether its engineers will wield that power thoughtfully. - 2025 August 27, Dana Suskind, “AI Engineers Need Their Own Hippocratic Oath. Here’s What It...
- To command, rule over; to possess or own.
- There was never kyng sauff myselff that welded evir such knyghtes. - 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum 7”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book V, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485,...
- To control, to guide or manage.
- With such his chearefull speaches he doth wield / Her mind so well, that to his will she bends[…]. - 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie,...
- To carry out, to bring about.
- All is weill done, God wate, weild he hys will. - a. 1513, Virgil, “VIII, prologue”, in Gawin Douglas [i.e., Gavin Douglas], transl., edited by [George Dundas], The Æneid of Virgil: Translated into Scottish Verse...
Origin
From Middle English welden, from the merger of Old English wealdan (“to control, rule”) (strong class 7) and Old English wieldan (“to control, subdue”) (weak). Both verbs derive from Proto-West Germanic *waldan and *waldijan, respectively; and are ultimately from Proto-Germanic *waldaną (“to rule”). The reason for the merger was that in Middle English the -d in the stem made it hard to distinguish between strong and weak forms in the past tense.