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Origin and history of wield

wield(v.)

"have power and sway over," hence, "practice, put to active use as a means or a tool;" Middle English welden, from Old English weldan (Mercian), wieldan, wealdan (West Saxon) "reign, have power over; compel, tame, subdue" (class VII strong verb; past tense weold, past participle gewealden), merged with weak verb wyldan. Both are from Proto-Germanic *waldan "to rule" (source also of 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, veldėti "to rule, possess") probably are from PIE *woldh-, extended form of root *wal- "to be strong, to rule."

It is attested by c. 1200 as "cause to move in a certain direction;" by c. 1300 as "handle" (a weapon or tool). Also formerly "have, possess, enjoy" (now obsolete), and in Middle English it was among the verbs for "take in marriage" (of both sexes). Related: Wielded; wielder; wielding.

Entries linking to wield

herald(n.)

"messenger, envoy," late 13c. (in Anglo-Latin); c. 1200 as a surname, from Anglo-French heraud, Old French heraut, hiraut (12c.), from Frankish *hariwald "commander of an army" or a similar Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *harja "army" (from PIE root *koro- "war;" see harry) + *waldaz "to command, rule" (see wield). The form fits, but the sense evolution is difficult to explain, unless it is in reference to the chief officer of a tournament, who introduced knights and made decisions on rules (which was one of the early senses, often as heraud of armes, though not the earliest in English).

Reynold

masc. proper name, from Old French Reinald (Modern French Renaut, Latinized as Reginaldus), a popular name among the Normans, from Old High German Reginald, the first element related to reckon, the second to Old English wealdan "to rule," from Proto-Germanic *waldan "to rule," source of wield, from PIE root *wal- "to be strong." Related: Reynolds.