welken

From Middle Dutch welken; according to Kluge, ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *wolkn (“cloud”). Akin to German welken, English welk.

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• Rhymes: -ɛlkən

welken

1. to wither

welken

1. (relative, dated) to which, to whom

From Middle High German welken, from Old High German welkēn. According to Kluge, ultimately from the root of Wolke (“cloud”).

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welken (weak, third-person singular present welkt, past tense welkte, past participle gewelkt, auxiliary haben)

1. to wither

• Welkung
• verwelken

• Welken
• abwelken, dahinwelken, hinwelken
• welk

• “welken” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “welken” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “welken” in Duden online
• “welken” in OpenThesaurus.de

From Old English wolcnu, plural of wolcen, wolcn, from Proto-West Germanic *wolkn, from Proto-Germanic *wulkaną.

• welkne, welkene, wolken, wolkne, walkyn, wolkene, walkene, walkne, welkyn, walkon
• weolcne, wolcn, wlcne, wolcnu, walcne, weolkne, wolcne (Early Middle English)

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛlkən/, /ˈwɛlk(ə)nə/, /ˈwɔlkən/, /ˈwɔlk(ə)nə/

welken

1. The atmosphere; the area where weather happens.
2. The space or air surrounding the Earth or; the heavens or welkin.
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Clerke of Oxenfordes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, folio liiii, verso, part 6:

     Thus hath this pytous day a blyſful ende / For euery man & woman doth hys myght / Thys daye in myrth and reuel to dyſpende / Tyl on the welken ſhone the ſterres bryght / For more ſolempne in euery mannes ſyght / Thys feeſt was, and greater of coſtage / Then was the reuel of her mariage

     Thus hath this piteous day a blissful end / For every man & woman doth his might / This day in mirth and revel to dispend / Till on the welkin shone the stars bright / For more solemn in every man's sight / This feast was, and greater of costage / Than was the revel of her marriage

3. A division or layer of this space; an atmospheric region.
4. (Early Middle English) A cloud (mass of water droplets)

• English: welkin

• “welken, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-07-20.

Possibly related to or from Middle Low German welken or Middle Dutch welken, ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *wolkn (“cloud”). Compare also Middle English walwen (“to fade, wither”), from Old English wealwian.

• welkyn, welke, welk

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛlkən/

welken

1. To become dry or aged; to decay or wither (of plants or people)
2. (rare) To crinkle or become roughened or creased.
3. (rare) To turn or grow desolate or lifeless.

• English: welk
• Scots: welk

• “welken, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-07-20.