wee

See also: Wee, weè, and wêe

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English we (“little bit”), from Old English wǣge (“weight”), related to Middle English wegan (“to move, weigh”) (15c).

Adjective

wee (comparative weer, superlative weest)

  1. (Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England, New Zealand) Small, little.
    • 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 2009, p. 73:
      I had not seen a wee boy do it like that before. He was weer than me and his swimming was just like splashing about.
    You looked a little cold so I lit a wee fire.
Translations

Noun

wee

  1. A short time or short distance.

References

  • Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary: Tenth Edition (1997)

Etymology 2

Unknown

Noun

wee (uncountable)

  1. (colloquial, uncountable) urine
  2. (colloquial) An act of urination.
    to have a wee
Synonyms
  • wee wee
  • See also Thesaurus:urine
  • See also Thesaurus:urination
Translations

Verb

wee (third-person singular simple present wees, present participle weeing, simple past and past participle weed)

  1. (colloquial) To urinate.
Synonyms
  • See also Thesaurus:urinate
Translations

Etymology 3

Pronoun

wee (personal pronoun)

  1. obsolete emphatic of we
    • 1645 Marhc, John Milton, Tetrachordon.
      Yet lest wee should be Capernaitans, as wee are told there that the flesh profiteth nothing, so wee are told heer, if we be not as deaf as adders, that this union of the flesh proceeds from the union of a fit help and solace.

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wai. Compare Old English wā (English woe), Old High German wē (German weh), Old Norse vei.

Pronunciation

  • Audio(file)
  • IPA(key): /ʋeː/
  • Rhymes: -eː

Adjective

wee (not comparable)

  1. nauseating

Inflection

Inflection of wee
uninflected wee
inflected weeë
comparative —
positive
predicative/adverbial wee
indefinite m./f. sing. weeë
n. sing. wee
plural weeë
definite weeë
partitive wees

Noun

wee f (plural weeën, diminutive weetje n)

  1. contraction during labour or childbirth
    De weeën beginnen!
    The contractions are starting!
  2. sorrow, sadness, pain, woe; archaic unless used as an interjection of despair or annoyance
    O wee, wat zal er van ons worden.
    Oh woe, what shall become of us.

Derived terms

  • (sorrow): o wee, ach en wee, heimwee

Anagrams

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *wē, from Proto-Germanic *wai.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /weː/

Interjection

wêe

  1. woe!

Descendants

Adjective

wêe

  1. unpleasant, painful

Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

Noun

wêe f

  1. pain

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

  • Dutch: wee
  • Limburgish: wieë

Further reading

  • “wee”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • “wee (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

Scots

Pronunciation

  • enPR: wē, IPA(key): /wiː/

Adjective

wee (comparative weer, superlative weest)

  1. small, little, tiny

Usage notes

Used in both the standard Scots and Ulster Scots dialect.

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