# wench

> English word · Noun · IPA /wɛnt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #43,464

## Definitions
1. A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one.
2. A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one.
3. Used as a term of endearment for a female person, especially a wife, daughter, or girlfriend: darling, sweetheart.
4. A woman servant; a maidservant.
5. A promiscuous woman; a mistress (“other woman in an extramarital relationship”).
6. A prostitute.
7. A black woman (of any age), especially if in a condition of servitude.

## Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English wench, wenche (“female baby; girl (especially unmarried); maiden, young woman; bondwoman; serving maid; beloved, sweetheart; concubine, mistress; harlot, prostitute”) [and other forms], a shortened form of Middle English wenchel (“girl; maiden; child”), from Old English wenċel, winċel (“child; servant; slave”), from Proto-Germanic *wankilą, from Proto-Germanic *wankijaną (“to sway; waver”). The English word is cognate with Old High German wenken (“to waver; to give way, yield”), wankōn (“to totter”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

## Easily confused with
- **went** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wench-vs-went)
- **wich** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wench-vs-wich)
- **which** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wench-vs-which)
- **witch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wench-vs-witch)
- **Wendy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wench-vs-wendy)
- **winch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wench-vs-winch)
- **wince** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wench-vs-wince)
- **wrench** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wench-vs-wrench)
- **whence** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wench-vs-whence)
- **wretch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wench-vs-wretch)
- **wen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wen-vs-wench)
- **watch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/watch-vs-wench)
- **Welsh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/welsh-vs-wench)
- **weigh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weigh-vs-wench)
- **welch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/welch-vs-wench)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ewnch`, `wecnh`, `wencch`, `wenchh`, `wenhc`, `wennch`, `wnech`, `wwench`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wench