Word of the Day

: December 8, 2017

wend

verb WEND

What It Means

: to direct one's course : travel, proceed

wend in Context

The hikers wended their way along the forest trail toward the evening's campsite.

"Meanwhile, several lawsuits involving the hotel developments that stoked the city's political divides are still wending their way through the courts." — Sheila Mullane Estrada, The Tampa Bay Times, 13 Oct. 2017

Did You Know?

Wend is related to the verb wind, which means, among other things, "to follow a series of curves and turns." It is also a distant relative of the verb wander. Wend itself began its journey in Old English as wendan, which was used in various now-obsolete senses relating to turning or changing direction or position and which is akin to the Old English windan ("to twist"). Wend has twisted itself into various meanings over the years. Most of its senses—including "to come about," "to depart," "to change," and "to betake"—have since wandered off into obscurity, but its use in senses related to going or moving along a course has lent the English verb go its past tense form went (as a past tense form of wend, went has long since been superseded by wended). The current sense of wend, "to direct or to proceed," is holding steady on the path.