15,000 words and phrases from more than 50 languages and their

w
Wacht [Ger; pi. Wachten], naut., watch; mil., guard.
Wächterlied [Ger], watchman's song; aubade.
Waffenstillstand [Ger], truce; armistice.
wagon-lit [Fr; pi. wagons-lits], railway sleeping car.
wahine [Hawa], woman.
Wahrheit [Ger], truth. —Wahrheit gegen Freund und Feind, truth in
spite of friend and foe: Schiller. —Wahrheit und Dichtung, truth and
poetry: popular but erroneous transposition of Goethe's subtitle
(Dichtung und Wahrheit) to his autobiography.
wahrscheinlich [Ger], probable; likely.
walla or wallah [Anglo-1nd; Hind wala], a word affixed to a noun or
verb to denote the agent, doer, or occupational connection, corresponding
to the English suffix -man; as, punkah-walfa, the man who
works a punkah; colloq., fellow; person.
Wanderjahre [Ger; pi], years of travel; years in which a journeyman
traveled to gain more experience, following his Lehrjahre, his years
of apprenticeship.
Wanderlust [Ger], passion for traveling; desire to see the world.
wan sui or wan sei [Chin], lit., 10,000 years; long live...
warum? [Ger], why? wherefore? —warum nicht?, why not? —warum
nicht gar!, you don't say so! by no means!
was du liebst, das lebst du [Ger], what thou lovest, that thou livest:
Fichte.
was gibt es? [Ger], what is the matter?
was gibt es neues? [Ger], what's new?
was ich nicht loben kann, davon sprech ich nicht [Ger], what I cannot
praise, of that I do not speak: Goethe.
was ist das Leben ohne Liebesglanz [Ger], what is life without the light
of love: Schiller.
Wasser [Ger], water.
was uns alle bändigt, das Gemeine [Ger], that which enthralls us all—
the commonplace: Goethe.
Weihnachten [Ger], Christmas.
Weinstube [Ger; pl. Weinstuben], wine room in a tavern; wine shop.
Wein, Weib, und Gesang [Ger], wine, woman, and song.
Weltanschauung [Ger] lit., world view; conception of life or of the
world in all its aspects; philosophy of life.
Weltgeschichte [Ger], world history; universal history.
Weltkrieg [Ger], world war.
weltmüde [Ger], world weary; disgusted with life.
325