witherwin

English

Alternative forms

• wither-win, wetherun, wethering, widderwin

Etymology

From Middle English wiþerwine, witherwin, from Old English wiþerwinna (“opponent, rival, adversary, enemy”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiþrawinnō, equivalent to wither- (“against”) +‎ win (“to struggle”). Cognate with Old High German widarwinno, Middle High German widerwinne.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɪðə(ɹ)ˌwɪn/

Noun

witherwin (plural witherwins)

1. (rare, dialect or archaic) An opponent; rival; adversary; enemy; (Christianity) the Adversary; the Devil.
   • 2012, Hampton Roads Republican US Senate Debate Summary‎^[1]:

     Jamie Radtke, the first to make opening statements, emerged from her podium immediately as an aggressor against George Allen–her intraparty arch-nemesis–repeating amidst his own supporters her oft-made attacks against Allen’s public record. She was not as demure as she was in Roanoke; she seemed at the beginning rather like she felt more comfortable in the oceanic atmosphere harpooning her opponent. Indeed, at times, it seemed she was Ahab and the witherwin Allen was her Moby Dick; but while she sails her Pequod just as intently toward a singular goal, her alastor is much less clear and she bears no visible scars of a cetacean attacker.

   • 2015, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Born of Betrayal:

     "Why did they arrest Commander Hauk?” “I'm not at liberty to discuss that with witherwins.” “Witherwins?” “Non-Tavali.”

   • 2015, LT Wolf, The World King - Book I: The Reckoning:

     Of the two, the hyrn is mostly likely to befuddle our widderwins since, as it turns out, winkel is also the German word for a corner which might be known by some.

Middle English

Noun

witherwin

1. Alternative form of wiþerwine