Obs. [OE. wanspéd: see WAN- and SPEED sb.] Ill-success; adversity, poverty.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., III. vii. § 6. On þæm ʓefeohte wæs ærest anfunden Sciþþia wanspeda [L. inopiæ Scythicæ].
c. 1050. Liber Scintill. (1889), 226. Wer feohtende ateoriʓende þurh wanspede [L. per inopiam].
a. 1300. Cursor M., 23708. Yee cristen men, yow vmbilok,… O yur lijf þat yee her lede Yee turn it noght into wan-spede! Ibid., 28175. O strif oft haue i sauun þe sede To bring my brother to wan-spede.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 9327. What whylenes, or wanspede, wryxles our mynd?
