wield词源

英文词源

wield

wield: [OE] To wield something is etymologically to ‘command’ or ‘rule’ it. Indeed, that is what the word originally meant in English. ‘Handle, use’ is a secondary development. It goes back to a prehistoric base *wald-, which also produced German walten, Lithuanian valdyti, Czech vládnouti, and Polish władać ‘rule, govern’ and Russian vladet’ ‘possess, own’. And this in turn was probably an extension of Indo-European *wal-, source also of Latin valēre ‘be strong’, from which English gets valid, value, etc.
=> valid, value

wield (v.)

Old English weldan (Mercian), wieldan, wealdan (West Saxon) "have power over, compel, tame, subdue" (class VII strong verb; past tense weold, past participle gewealden), merged with weak verb wyldan, both from Proto-Germanic *waldan "to rule" (cognates: Old Saxon and Gothic waldan, Old Frisian walda "to govern, rule," Old Norse valda "to rule, wield, to cause," Old High German waltan, German walten "to rule, govern").

The Germanic words and cognates in Balto-Slavic (Old Church Slavonic vlado "to rule," vlasti "power," Russian vladeti "to reign, rule, possess, make use of," Lithuanian veldu "to rule, possess") probably are from PIE *woldh-, extended form of root *wal- "to be strong, to rule" (see valiant). Related: Wielded; wielding.