different between hump vs weal

English

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Dutch homp (“hump, lump”) or Middle Low German hump (“heap, hill, stump”), from Old Saxon *hump (“hill, heap, thick piece”), from Proto-Germanic *humpaz (“hip, height”), from Proto-Indo-European *kumb- (“curved”).

Pronunciation

• (Canada, UK) IPA^(key): /h?mp/
• Rhymes: -?mp

Noun

hump (plural humps)

1. A mound of earth.
2. A speed hump.
3. A deformity in humans caused by abnormal curvature of the upper spine.
4. (animals) A rounded fleshy mass, such as on a camel or zebu.
5. (slang) An act of sexual intercourse.
6. (Britain, slang, with definite article) A bad mood.

   She's got the hump with me.

   Go away! You're giving me the right hump.

7. (slang) A painfully boorish person.

   That guy is such a hump!

8. A wave that forms in front of an operating hovercraft and impedes progress at low speeds.

Synonyms

• (abnormal deformity of the spine): gibbous, humpback, hunch, hunchback

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

hump (third-person singular simple present humps, present participle humping, simple past and past participle humped)

1. (transitive) To bend something into a hump.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To carry (something), especially with some exertion.
3. to rhythmically thrust the pelvis in a manner conducive to sexual intercourse
   1. (transitive, intransitive) To dry-hump.

   2. (transitive, intransitive) To have sex (with).
4. (US, slang, dated) To prepare for a great exertion; to put forth effort.
5. (slang, dated) To vex or annoy.
6. (rail transport) To shunt wagons / freight cars over the hump in a hump yard.

Synonyms

• (to carry): heft, shoulder, tote; see also Thesaurus:carry
• (to go on foot): hike, trek, walk; see also Thesaurus:walk
• (to have sex): bang, bone, ride, shag; see also Thesaurus:copulate or Thesaurus:copulate with
• (to vex): bother, irk, rile; see also Thesaurus:annoy

Derived terms

• dry-hump
• hump it

Translations

Anagrams

• phum, umph

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Possibly related to Low German humpel, compare with English hump.

Noun

hump m (definite singular humpen, indefinite plural humper, definite plural humpene)

1. a bump or hump (e.g. in a road)

Derived terms

• fartshump

References

• “hump” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Possibly related to Low German humpel, compare with English hump.

Noun

hump m (definite singular humpen, indefinite plural humpar, definite plural humpane)

1. a bump or hump (e.g. in a road)

Derived terms

• fartshump

References

• “hump” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?l, IPA^(key): /wi?l/
• Rhymes: -i?l
• Homophone: we'll; wheal, wheel (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Etymology 1

From Middle English wele, from Old English wela (“wellness, welfare, prosperity, riches, well-being, wealth”), from Proto-Germanic *walô (“well-being, wellness, weal”). Cognate with German Wohl, Danish vel, Swedish väl.

Noun

weal (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Wealth, riches. [10th-19th c.]
2. (literary) Welfare, prosperity. [from 10th c.]
3. (by extension) Boon, benefit.
   • 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 557:

     And indeed I blamed myself and sore repented me of having taken compassion on him and continued in this condition, suffering fatigue not to be described, till I said to myself, "I wrought him a weal and he requited me with my ill; by Allah, never more will I do any man a service so long as I live!"

4. Specifically, the general happiness of a community, country etc. (often with qualifying word). [from 15th c.]
   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, page 372:

     Louis could aim to restyle himself the first among citizens, viewing virtuous attachment to the public weal as his most important kingly duty.

Derived terms

• commonweal
• wealful
• wealsman
• wealth

Related terms

• in weal or woe

Translations

Etymology 2

See wale.

Noun

weal (plural weals)

1. A raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by a stroke of a rod or whip; a welt.

   Synonym: wheal

   • 1958, T. H. White, The Once and Future King, London: Collins, 1959, Chapter 16,^[1]

     He had been slashed sixteen times by mighty boars, and his legs had white weals of shiny flesh that stretched right up to his ribs.

   • 2007, Tan Twan Eng, The Gift of Rain, New York: Weinstein Books, Book Two, Chapter Twenty-One, p. 422,^[2]

     And I saw the green island in the immense sea, the borders of the sea curling with a lining of light, like a vast piece of rice paper, its edges alive with weals of red embers, ready to burst into flame.

Translations

Verb

weal (third-person singular simple present weals, present participle wealing, simple past and past participle wealed)

1. To mark with stripes; to wale.

Anagrams

• alew, e-law, lawe, wale