wet

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”).

• enPR: wĕt, IPA^(key): /wɛt/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -ɛt
• Homophone: whet (wine–whine merger)

wet (comparative wetter, superlative wettest)

1. Made up of liquid or moisture, usually (but not always) water.

   Synonym: wetting

   Water is wet.

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

   I went out in the rain and now my clothes are all wet.

   The baby is wet and needs its nappy changed.

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.

   This pen’s a wet writer, so it’ll feather on this cheap paper.

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

   It’s going to be wet tomorrow.

   • 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,

   • 2020 May 20, Paul Stephen, “NR beats floods to secure tracks to Drax”, in Rail, page 58:

     February 2020 was officially the wettest February on record for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the second wettest (behind 1990) for Scotland.

7. (aviation) Using afterburners or water injection for increased engine thrust.

   This fighter jet's engine is rated for a maximum wet thrust of 450 kilonewtons, more than twice its max dry thrust, but the afterburner eats up a huge amount of fuel.

8. (slang) Of a person: inexperienced in a profession or task; having the characteristics of a rookie.

   Synonyms: green, wet behind the ears

   That guy’s wet; after all, he just started yesterday.

10. (slang, vulgar, of a female) Sexually aroused and thus having the vulva moistened with vaginal secretions.

    Synonyms: horny, moist; see also Thesaurus:randy

    He got me all wet.

11. (British, slang) Ineffectual, feeble, showing no strength of character.
    • 1924, Percy Marks, chapter XVII, in The Plastic Age:

      "Wet! What currency that bit of slang has—and what awful power. It took me a long time to find out what the word meant, but after long research I think that I know. A man is wet if he isn't a 'regular guy'; he is wet if he isn't 'smooth'; he is wet if he has intellectual interests and lets the mob discover them; and, strangely enough, he is wet by the same token if he is utterly stupid. He is wet if he doesn't show at least a tendency to dissipate, but he isn't wet if he dissipates to excess. A man will be branded as wet for any of these reasons, and once he is so branded, he might as well leave college … "

    • 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

    Don’t be so wet.

12. (retronym) Permitting alcoholic beverages.
    • 1995, Richard F. Hamm, Shaping the Eighteenth Amendment:

      The wet states would be "the greatest beneficiaries" because the amendment would root out the liquor traffic within their cities.

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.

    the wet extraction of copper, in distinction from dry extraction in which dry heat or fusion is employed

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.

• Bislama: wet
  • → Araki: wet

• moist

wet (countable and uncountable, plural wets)

1. Liquid or moisture.
   • 1671, John Milton, “The Fourth Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:

     Now the sun, with more effectual beams, / Had cheered the face of earth, and dried the wet / From drooping plant.

2. Rainy weather.

   Don't go out in the wet.

3. (Australia) Rainy season. (often capitalized)
   • 1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XI, in Capricornia‎^[3], New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, pages 186–7:

     They'll be in the camp […] before the Wet's out, mark my words.

   • 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 289:

     Once the wet kicks in up north, you can be stranded for months waiting for swollen rivers to subside to a crossable depth[.]

   • 2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 365:

     He said he wanted to beat the clouds gathering, before the Wet had properly settled itself over the plains again.

   • 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.
   • 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 60:

     ‘A pity,’ said Jim, ‘I thought we was going to have a free wet.’

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.
   • 2004, Jonathan Noble, Mark Hughes, Formula One Racing For Dummies, page 303:

     Wets, designed to channel water away from underneath the tyres, maximise grip and minimise the chance of aquaplaning.

8. (colloquial, derogatory) A weak or sentimental person; a wimp or softie.
   • 1984, British Book News, page 324:

     Above all, he [Nigel Molesworth] is his own man, resolutely committed to a view of life that divides his fellow pupils into 'sissies', 'wets', 'swots' and 'old lags'.

   • 1990, Grant Naylor, Better Than Life:

     Rimmer had never been terribly good at sports. In fact, he'd been one of the group of 'wets, weirdos and fatties' who stood by the touchline at ball games, worrying about their chapped legs, and fleeing whenever the ball came near them.

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

   • 1941 December, G. H. Soole, “The Mountain Section of the C.P.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 530:

     There is scanty room for a railway, and in many places the rails are wetted by the spray from the Illecillewaet, which is the Indian word for a raging torrent.

   • 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 90:

     'Mr Kelly's Car Wash' was a toy made by Remco where a toy car could be automatically wetted, scrubbed and dried.

2. (transitive, intransitive) To make or become wet.

   Synonyms: dampen, dew, get wet, moisten

   • 2008, “Be Nice To Me”, in I Hate My Friends, performed by The Front Bottoms:

     I try to show emotion, but my eyes won't seem to wet

3. (transitive) To make (oneself, clothing, a bed, etc.) wet by accidental urination.

   Johnny wets the bed several times a week.

   She was laughing so hard she wet her pants.

4. (transitive, soldering) To form an intermetallic bond between a solder and a metal substrate.
5. (transitive, informal) To celebrate by drinking alcohol.

   to wet the baby’s head

   • 1826, Thomas Bayly Howell, Thomas Jones Howell, A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings:

     [He] invited some officers and other gentlemen to dine with him at the Dolphin tavern in Tower street, June 17, 1706, in order to wet his commission […]

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

   • 1992 May 5, House of Pain (lyrics and music), “Jump Around” (track 2), in House of Pain‎^[5]:

     I'm coming to get ya, I'm coming to get ya / Spitting out lyrics, homie, I'll wet ya

• Tew, ewt, tew

From Dutch wet.

• IPA^(key): /vɛt/

wet (plural wette)

1. law

• klankwet
• wetboek
• grondwet

Borrowed from Dutch wet.

wet

1. law

   Kalu su langgar wet tantu dia masu bui.

   If it's against the law, of course he will go to jail.

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

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

wet

1. wet

• 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.

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

wet

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

• 蒲 (pou⁴)

• we we wet wet

• IPA^(key): /ʋɛt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: wet
• Rhymes: -ɛt

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

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

• 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

• rechten

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

wet

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

From Dutch wet.

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

wet or wèt

1. law (rule)

   Synonyms: hukum, undang-undang

• “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.

• wett, wette, wete, weet, weete

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

• IPA^(key): /wɛt/, /wɛːt/

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

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

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

wet (plural wetes or weten)

1. Water or another liquid
2. wetness; wateriness
3. (alchemy, medicine) Alchemical wetness
4. Rain, raininess
   • 15th c., “Pagina pastorum [Shepherds' Play, I]”, in Wakefield Mystery Plays; Re-edited in George England, Alfred W. Pollard, editors, The Towneley Plays (Early English Text Society Extra Series; LXXI), London: […] Oxford University Press, 1897, →OCLC, page 100, lines 1–9:

     Lord, what they are weyll / that hens ar past! / ffor thay noght feyll / theym to downe cast. / here is makyll vnceyll / and long has it last, / Now in hart, now in heyll / now in weytt, now in blast / Now in care, / Now in comforth agane, / Now is fayre, now is rane, / Now in hart full fane, / And after full sare.

     Lord! They are well that are gone from here! For they do not feel anything, those who have been cast down. Here, there is much misery, and it lasts a long time: in one's heart, in hail, in rain, in wind or thunder, in care, then in comfort again, then fairness, then rain; at one point glad in heart, and after most grieved.

• English: wet
• Scots: wat

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

wet

1. second-person singular present of wel

• weta

Borrowed from Middle High German wette (“repayment”).^[1][2][3][4] First attested in the 15th century.

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

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

   • 1972 [15th century], Józef Reczek, Wacław Twardzik, editors, Najstarsze staropolskie tłumaczenie ortyli magdeburskich wg rkpsu nr 50, pages 91, 1:

     Tedy mvszy (sc. powod) wyny a wetty pokvpycz (opportet pro eo emendas et poenas dare)

     [Tedy musi (sc. powod) winy i wety pokupić (opportet pro eo emendas et poenas dare)]

• Polish: wet

• 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

wēt

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɛt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt
• Syllabification: wet
• Homophone: wet.

Inherited from Old Polish wet.

• weta (obsolete)

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

Clipping of weterynarz. Compare English vet.

wet m pers

1. (colloquial) Synonym of weterynarz

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

wet n

1. genitive plural of weto

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

wet f

1. genitive plural of weta

• 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

From English wet.

wet

1. wet

From English wait.

wet

1. wait

wet (definite form wet gi)

1. side

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