wet

wet

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of wet in English

English Online Dictionary. What means wet‎? What does wet mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English wet (“wet, moistened”), wett, wette, past participle of Middle English weten (“to wet”), from Old English wǣtan (“to wet, moisten, water”), from Proto-Germanic *wētijaną (“to wet, make wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water, wet”) (also the source of water).

Cognate with Scots weit, wete (“to wet”), Saterland Frisian wäitje (“to wet; drench”), Icelandic væta (“to wet”). Compare also Middle English weet (“wet”), from Old English wǣt (“wet, moist, rainy”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāt, from Proto-Germanic *wētaz (“wet, moist”), related to Scots weit, weet, wat (“wet”), North Frisian wiat, weet, wäit (“wet”), Saterland Frisian wäit (“wet”), West Frisian wiet (“wet”), Middle Dutch wet (“wet, damp, watery”), Swedish and Norwegian våt (“wet”), Danish våd (“wet”), Faroese vátur (“wet”), Icelandic votur (“wet”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: wĕt, IPA(key): /wɛt/
  • Rhymes: -ɛt
  • Homophone: whet (wine–whine merger)

Adjective

wet (comparative wetter, superlative wettest)

  1. Made up of liquid or moisture, usually (but not always) water.
    Synonym: wetting
  2. Of an object, etc.: covered or impregnated with liquid, usually (but not always) water.
    Synonyms: damp, saturated, soaked; see also Thesaurus:wet
    Antonym: dry
  3. Of a burrito, sandwich, or other food: covered in a sauce.
    • 2000, Robert Allen Palmatier, Food: a dictionary of literal and nonliteral terms, page 372:
      A chimichanga (MWCD: 1982) is a burrito that is deep-fried, rather than baked, and is served in the fashion of a wet burrito.
    • 2005, Restaurant business, Volume 104, Issues 1-10
      The new item is its first "wet," or sauce-topped, burrito.
    • 2011, J. Gabriel Gates, Charlene Keel, Dark Territory, page 13
      But I'm getting the wet burrito.” Ignacio looked down at some sort of a tomato sauce–covered tortilla tube.
  4. Of calligraphy and fountain pens: depositing a large amount of ink from the nib or the feed.
  5. Of a sound recording: having had audio effects applied.
  6. Of weather or a time period: rainy.
    Synonyms: damp, raining, rainy
    Antonyms: dry, sunny
    • 1637, John Milton, Comus, London: Humphrey Robinson, p. 32,[2]
      Summer drouth, or singed aire
      Never scorch thy tresses faire,
      Nor wet Octobers torrent flood
      Thy molten crystall fill with mudde,
  7. (aviation) Using afterburners or water injection for increased engine thrust.
  8. (slang) Of a person: inexperienced in a profession or task; having the characteristics of a rookie.
    Synonyms: green, wet behind the ears
  10. (slang, vulgar, of a female) Sexually aroused and thus having the vulva moistened with vaginal secretions.
    Synonyms: horny, moist; see also Thesaurus:randy
  11. (British, slang) Ineffectual, feeble, showing no strength of character.
    • 2020, Boris Johnson quoted in "Proms row: Johnson calls for end to 'cringing embarrassment' over UK history," by Jim Waterson, The Guardian, Aug. 25, 2020:
      “I think it’s time we stopped our cringing embarrassment about our history, about our traditions, and about our culture, and we stopped this general fight of self-recrimination and wetness."
    Synonyms: feeble, hopeless, useless, drip
  12. (retronym) Permitting alcoholic beverages.
  13. (slang, archaic) Refreshed with liquor; drunk.
    Synonyms: inebriated, soused; see also Thesaurus:drunk
    • c. 1694, Matthew Prior, “Celia to Damon”
      […] When my lost Lover the tall Ship ascends, / With Musick gay, and wet with Iovial Friends […]
  14. (biology, chemistry) Of a scientist or laboratory: working with biological or chemical matter.
    Antonym: dry
  15. (chemistry) Employing, or done by means of, water or some other liquid.
  16. (slang, euphemistic) Involving assassination or "wet work".
    a wet affair; a wet job; wet stuff
  17. (poker slang) Of a board or flop: enabling the creation of many or of strong hands; e.g. containing connectors or suited cards. (Compare dry).
  18. (dated or obsolete, colloquial) Of a Quaker: liberal with respect to religious observance.
    • 1811. John Adams, Letter to the Boston Patriot, §25. Reprinted in 1856. Charles Francis Adams (ed.), The Life of John Adams, Second President of The United States. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, p. 661.
      The Catholics thought him almost a Catholic. The Church of England claimed him as one of them. The Presbyterians thought him half a Presbyterian, and the Friends believed him a wet Quaker. The dissenting clergymen in England and America were among the most distinguished asserters and propagators of his renown. Indeed, all sects considered him, and I believe justly, a friend to unlimited toleration in matters of religion.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Bislama: wet
    • → Araki: wet

Translations

See also

  • moist

Noun

wet (countable and uncountable, plural wets)

  1. Liquid or moisture.
  2. Rainy weather.
  3. (Australia) Rainy season. (often capitalized)
    • 2015, David Andrew, The Complete Guide to Finding the Mammals of Australia, Csiro Publishing, Appendix B, page 380 [4]
      Northern Australia is tropical and subject to a prolonged wet season (often called simply 'the Wet') that may last from December to April […] . The Wet features high humidity, heavy rain, flooding that can cut off towns and roads for days on end, and, in most years, violent cyclones that cause high seas, widespread damage and sometimes loss of life.
  4. (British, UK politics, derogatory) A moderate Conservative; especially, one who opposed the hard-line policies of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.
    Antonym: dry
  5. (colloquial) An alcoholic drink.
  6. (US, colloquial) One who supports the consumption of alcohol and thus opposes Prohibition.
    • c. 1952-1996, Noah S. Sweat, quoted in 1996
      The drys were as unhappy with the second part of the speech as the wets were with the first half.
  7. (motor racing, in the plural) A tyre for use in wet weather.
  8. (colloquial, derogatory) A weak or sentimental person; a wimp or softie.

Translations

Verb

wet (third-person singular simple present wets, present participle wetting, simple past and past participle wet or wetted)

  1. (transitive) To cover or impregnate with liquid.
    Synonyms: drench, get wet, soak, sog
  2. (transitive, intransitive) To make or become wet.
    Synonyms: dampen, dew, get wet, moisten
  3. (transitive) To make (oneself, clothing, a bed, etc.) wet by accidental urination.
  4. (transitive, soldering) To form an intermetallic bond between a solder and a metal substrate.
  5. (transitive, informal) To celebrate by drinking alcohol.
  6. Misspelling of whet.
  7. (US, MLE, MTE, slang) To kill or seriously injure.
    Synonyms: do away with, do violence to; see also Thesaurus:harm, Thesaurus:kill

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

  • Tew, ewt, tew

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch wet.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /vɛt/

Noun

wet (plural wette)

  1. law

Derived terms

  • klankwet
  • wetboek
  • grondwet

Ambonese Malay

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch wet.

Noun

wet

  1. law

References

  • D. Takaria, C. Pieter (1998) Kamus Bahasa Melayu Ambon-Indonesia‎[6], Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa

Araki

Etymology

Borrowed from Bislama wet (“wet”), from English wet.

Adjective

wet

  1. wet

References

  • François, A. (2002) Araki: A disappearing language of Vanuat, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. Cited in: "Araki (Southwest Santo)" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271–283.

Chinese

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “From English wet? [7] From 威?”)

Pronunciation

Verb

wet

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, dated) to go clubbing; to party; to hang out; to have a good time

Synonyms

  • 蒲 (pou4)

Derived terms

Related terms

  • we we wet wet

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʋɛt/
  • Hyphenation: wet
  • Rhymes: -ɛt

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch wet, wette, wit, weet, from Old Dutch witat, witut (“rule, law”), from Proto-Germanic *witōþą (“law”).

Noun

wet f (plural wetten, diminutive wetje n)

  1. law (rule)
  2. law (body of rules declared and/or enforced by a government)
  3. (physics) law of nature
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Afrikaans: wet
  • Jersey Dutch: wät
  • Negerhollands: wet
  • → Ambonese Malay: wet
  • → Caribbean Javanese: wèt
  • → Indonesian: wet
  • → Madurese: ꦮꦺꦠ꧀ (wet)
  • → Sranan Tongo: wèt
    • → Aukan: weiti
    • → Saramaccan: weti
See also
  • rechten

Further reading

  • “wet” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]

Etymology 2

Verb

wet

  1. inflection of wetten:
    1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
    2. imperative

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch wet.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈwɛt]
  • Hyphenation: wèt

Noun

wet or wèt

  1. law (rule)
    Synonyms: hukum, undang-undang

Further reading

  • “wet” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Middle English

Alternative forms

  • wett, wette, wete, weet, weete

Etymology

From Old English wǣt, wāt, and weten (“to wet”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /wɛt/, /wɛːt/

Adjective

wet

  1. wet, watery
  2. (weather) wet, rainy
  3. liquid, fluid
  4. damp, moist, waterlogged
  5. (terrain) marshy, boggy
  6. (alchemy, medicine) Something that is considered alchemically wet
  7. teary, weepy
  8. bloody, bloodstained
  9. sweaty, having sweat

Descendants

  • English: wet (see there for further descendants)
  • Scots: wat
  • Yola: weate

References

  • “wē̆t, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-26.

Noun

wet (plural wetes or weten)

  1. Water or another liquid
  2. wetness; wateriness
  3. (alchemy, medicine) Alchemical wetness
  4. Rain, raininess

Descendants

  • English: wet
  • Scots: wat

References

  • “wē̆t, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-26.

North Frisian

Verb

wet

  1. second-person singular present of wel

Old Polish

Alternative forms

  • weta

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle High German wette (“repayment”). First attested in the 15th century.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (10th–15th CE) /vɛ(ː)t/
  • IPA(key): (15th CE) /vɛt/, /vet/

Noun

wet m animacy unattested

  1. damages (monetary payment as compensation for a criminal act committed or as compensation for damage caused, also a court penalty imposed on a litigant)
    Synonyms: pokup, przykład

Descendants

  • Polish: wet

References

  • B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “1. wet, weta”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Old Saxon

Verb

wēt

  1. first-person present indicative of witan
  2. third-person present indicative of witan

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈvɛt/
  • Rhymes: -ɛt
  • Syllabification: wet
  • Homophone: wet.

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Polish wet.

Alternative forms

  • weta (obsolete)

Noun

wet m inan

  1. (obsolete except in set phrases) compensation (something which is regarded as an equivalent; something which compensates for loss)
    Synonyms: odpłacenie, odwzajemnienie
  2. (archaic, in the plural) dessert (sweet dish or confection served as the last course of a meal)
    Synonym: deser
Declension
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Clipping of weterynarz. Compare English vet.

Noun

wet m pers

  1. (colloquial) Synonym of weterynarz
Declension
Related terms

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

wet n

  1. genitive plural of weto

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

wet f

  1. genitive plural of weta

Further reading

  • wet in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • wety in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • wet in Polish dictionaries at PWN
  • Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “wet”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
  • “WET”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 13.09.2022
  • Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “wet”, in Słownik języka polskiego
  • Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “wet”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
  • J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1919), “wet”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 7, Warsaw, page 515

Tok Pisin

Etymology 1

From English wet.

Adjective

wet

  1. wet

Etymology 2

From English wait.

Verb

wet

  1. wait

Wolof

Noun

wet (definite form wet gi)

  1. side

References

Omar Ka (2018) Nanu Dégg Wolof, National African Language Resource Center, →ISBN, page 257

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