a hamlet, Old Ger. _wila_; _e.g._ Kleinweil (the little hamlet); Kurzweil (short hamlet); Langweil (long hamlet), Pfaffwyl (the priest’s hamlet); Weiller, in Alsace, Echzell, in Hesse-Darmstadt, corrupt. from _Achizwila_ (the hamlet on the water); Eschweiler (the hamlet near ash-trees); Dettweiler (the hamlet of the diet, or people’s meeting); Rappersweil (the hamlet of Rappert, a personal name); Rothwell, in Baden, anc. _Rotwili_ (red hamlet). In England this word takes the form of _well_ or _will_, as in Kittlewell and Bradwell. In Normandy, Hardvilliers, Rohrwiller, Neuviller, etc. [Sidenote: WEIR (A.S.),] a dam, that which wards off the water, _wearan_, A.S., to guard; _e.g._ Ware, in Co. Hertford, named from a dam on the R. Lea, made by the Danes; Wareham (the town on the Weir), in Dorsetshire; Warminster (the monastery near the weir.) [Sidenote: WEISS (Ger.), HWIT (A.S.), HVID (Scand.),] white; _e.g._ Weisshorn (white cape); Weissmaes (white field); Weissenberg and Weissenfels (white rock); Weissenburg and Weissenstadt (white town); Weissenthurm (white tower). Sometimes the word takes the form of _witten_, as in Wittenberg and Wittenburg (white fortress), although this prefix is frequently derived from _vitu_, wood; Whitacre (white field); Whitburne, Whitbourne, Whitbeck (white stream); Witley (white meadow); Whiston, in Worcester, so named because it was originally a convent of _white_ nuns. [Sidenote: WEND, WIND,] words applied in German topography to mark the settlements of the Wends or Sclavonians, from the verb _wandeln_, to wander. The Sclavonians call themselves _Slowjane_, which means intelligible men, or _Srb_, which means _kinsmen_; while, by all the Sclavonic tribes, the Germans are called _niemiec_, the dumb men, because their language is unintelligible to their Sclavonic neighbours. The Wends in the sixth century occupied the north-eastern parts of Germany, but are now chiefly confined to Lusatia; _e.g._ Wendischbach (the Wends’ brook); Wendischhausen and Windsheim (the dwellings of the Wends); Wendischgratz (the Wends’ fortress); Wendischkappel (the Wends’ chapel or church); Windecken and Wendischhayn (the Wends’ corner and enclosure). [Sidenote: WERBA (Sclav.),] pasture; _e.g._ Werben, on the Elbe. [Sidenote: WERCH (Sclav.),] a summit; _e.g._ Werchau (the town on the height), in Prussia; Werch-see (the lake on the height); Werchne-Udinsk (the height on the R. Uda); Verkne-Dnieprevosk (the high town on the R. Dnieper); Werchne-Uralish, on the R. Ural; Verkne-Kolynski, on the R. Kolyma; Verkne-Sousensk, on the R. Sosna; Werchblatt (high marsh). [Sidenote: WERF, WARF (Teut.),] a dam or wharf; literally, what is thrown up--_werfen_; _e.g._ Werfen (the town on the embankment), in Upper Austria; Antwerp, anc. _Andoverpum_ (at the wharf); Hohenwerpum (high wharf); Neuwarp (new wharf). [Sidenote: WERK, WEORC (Teut.),]