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weel

Dialect
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A Scots dialect form of "well," indicating a state of good health, proper condition, or satisfactory fortune in regional verse.

Detailed Definition
'Weel' is a Scots dialect spelling of 'well.' Burns uses it in the description of Barleycorn's growth, preserving the poem's Scots voice and rhythm.
Example
Example in poetry:
“His head weel arm’d wi’ pointed spears” means “well armed with pointed spears”; “The ship was weel provisioned for the storm” uses weel as an intensifier; “A heart weel schooled in sorrow” gives the Scots form a reflective lyric register; “She sang it weel, though low and plain” shows its ordinary adverbial use
Additional Notes
The Scots form 'weel' in the quoted line is a dialect word that readers may not immediately know as 'well.'; Found in the poem, John Barleycorn by Robert Burns
Other Meanings of “weel”
Also Known As
well indeed certainly
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