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wey

Archaic Terms
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

An English unit of weight varying by commodity, typically 182 pounds for wool or cheese; also a dry capacity measure for grain.

Detailed Definition
The wey varied significantly by commodity: wool wey weighed 182 pounds, cheese wey similar, while grain wey measured capacity differently by region. This variation reflected different commercial traditions. In poetry concerning wool trade, agricultural commerce, or market economy, wey provides authentic but complex measurement. The term evokes English wool trade's importance, market diversity, and regional commercial practices. Poets employed weys when treating commercial themes, particularly wool trade that was fundamental to English medieval economy, adding authentic market terminology and connecting to England's historical economic foundations in wool production and export.
Example
Example in poetry:
In poetry about wool trade, "they purchased twelve weys for export to Flanders, England's wealth measured in wool"; Historical verse about medieval commerce might describe "the wey of wool—182 pounds precisely defined for honest trade"; Poetry about agricultural commerce uses "weys of cheese, weys of wool, same unit measuring different commodities"; In verse about market complexity, "each commodity had its own wey—wool's differed from cheese's, standardization still incomplete"; Modern poets writing about commercial history might contrast "medieval weys gave way to hundredweights, hundredweights to kilograms—each age imposing its own order"; Poetry about wool heritage describes "the wey—unit defining England's medieval prosperity, measurement and memory combined."
Additional Notes
The wey's dramatic commodity variation (wool wey 182 lbs, cheese wey similar, grain wey different) demonstrates pre-standardization measurement's complexity. Students should understand that wey measured different commodities differently, requiring specification of what was weighed. The term's importance to wool trade makes it significant for understanding medieval English economy. Understanding that wey represented substantial commercial quantity helps students appreciate wholesale versus retail scales. In poetry about wool trade, English medieval commerce, or agricultural economy, wey provides authentic measurement vocabulary. The wool wey's specific definition (182 lbs = 13 stone) shows systematic relationship to other wool measures (tod, sack). Students should recognize that commodity-specific measurements reflected real commercial practices—wool traded differently from grain, requiring appropriate units. Related terms include tod (28 lbs wool), sack (364 lbs wool), and last (bulk measure). For students writing about medieval English commerce, wool trade, or agricultural economy, wey adds authentic terminology connecting measurement to actual trade practices. The wey can represent commercial scale, wool's economic importance, or measurement's adaptation to commodity needs. The term evokes wool merchants, market scales, and England's wool-based prosperity.
Also Known As
wey weight load
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