wee
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a very short period of time.
n.a brief moment or short duration, often used in the phrase 'a wee bit'.
Simple“Wait just a wee while and I will be ready to go.”
In context“He decided to stay for a wee bit longer to ensure the fire was completely extinguished before he left the campsite.”
- 02 B1 Intermediate
n.an informal word for urine or the act of going to the toilet.
n.a colloquial and often childish term for urine or the act of urination.
Simple“The toddler told his mother he needed a wee.”
In context“The puppy had a wee on the carpet because it hadn't been taken outside for several hours.”
- 03 B1 Intermediate
From Middle English wey, weygh, wegh, weȝe, wæȝe (“little bit”), from Old English wǣġ, wǣġe (“weight”), from Proto-West Germanic wāgu, from Proto-Germanic wēgō (“scales, weight”) and *wēgǭ (“weight”), related to Middle English weġan (“to move, weigh”) (15c).
Onomatopoeic for the sound of urination. The noun derives from the verb.
* see we
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.