whate
Middle English
Alternative forms
- ȝwate, quate, qwate, wate, what
- hwate (early)
Etymology
From Old English hwatu (“omen”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwatu (“warning”), from Proto-Germanic *hwatō (“incitement”); compare Icelandic hvöt (“urge, encouragement”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʍaːt(ə)/
- (dialectal) IPA(key): /ˈxʍaːt(ə)/, /ˈwaːt(ə)/
Noun
whate (uncountable) (poetic)
- fortune, destiny, luck
- (rare) divination, augury
References
- “whāte, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.