Forms: 1 wæderung, 2 widerung, 4 wedring, weduring, -ynge, widdringe, 4–6 wederyng(e, 5 wedryng(e, weddrynge, wedyrryng, 5–6 wethering(e, -yng(e, 6 wedering, 7 wethring, 6– weathering. [In sense 1, repr. OE. wederung, f. wed(e)rian (see WEATHER v.); in later uses f. WEATHER v. + -ING1.]
† 1. Weather conditions; (good or bad) weather; in nautical use chiefly with reference to the direction and force of the winds. Obs.
a. 1122. O. E. Chron. (Laud MS.), an. 1085. & þæs ilcan ʓeares wæs swiðe hefelic ʓear … & swa mycel unʓelimp on wæderunge swa man naht æðelice ʓeþencean ne mæʓ swa stor þunring & læʓt wes.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 13. Gif ȝe mine bibode healded þenne sende ic eou rihte widerunge.
c. 1325. Poem temp. Edw. II., lxxvi. God hath … send wederyng on erthe Cold & unkynde.
1387–8. T. Usk, Test. Love, III. vii. 74. After suche stormes [in budding-time], how hard is it to avoyde, til efte wedring and yeres han maked her circute cours al about, er any frute be able to be tasted!
1425. Rolls of Parlt., IV. 290/1. Grett rayne, and longe abydyng upon the water, be fortune of wederyng or otherwise.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 519/2. Wederynge, of þe eyre, temperies.
a. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 284. Ȝe prayen to God forto haue kynde wedryng to all maner of sedys þat ben cast yn þe erthe.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, xxiv. 524. And wyte it, that by fortune of wedryng, they were well eyght monethes vpon the see.
c. 1500. Melusine, xxvi. 206. That no raynne or other fowll wedryng myght lette þeire entree within the tounne.
a. 1513. Fabyan, Chron., VII. (1811), 314. By reason of the vnreasonable wederynge, as in ye laste yere fell, ye whete was solde for xv.s. a quarter.
1528. R. Copland, trans. Rutter of Sea (c. 1550), D viij b. The maister and his mariners trimmeth not their sayle as it should be, and ill wethering taketh them in the sea.
c. 1565. Sparke, in Hakluyt, Voy. (1589), 537. He did consider what time he should spend ere he could get so farre to windeward againe, which would haue bene with the weathering which we had 10 or 12 dayes worke.
† b. Propitious or suitable weather. Obs.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 1. Whan þis weith at his wil weduring hadde, Ful raþe rommede he rydinge þedirre.
1389. in Eng. Gilds (1870), 23. We shul preyen … for alle trewe shipmen,… yt godd for his grace yeue hem wederyng and passage.
c. 1400. in York Manual (Surtees), 221*. Ȝe schulleþ also bidde þat god … suche widdringes vs sende on erþe þat þe fruyt þat is þer inne thriue.
c. 1440. Jacob’s Well, 261. So þou synfull man … excusyst þe, & seyst, I may noȝt kepe þe halyday, for god wil sende no wederyng on þe werkeday.
1532. Tindale, Expos. Matt. v.–vii. 59. Where the prieste oughte to praye in the mother tounge … for wedering and frutes [etc.].
1553. Becon, Reliques of Rome (1563), 236 b. Ye shal pray for al manner of frutes … yt almightye God … maye sende suche wederynges, yt they maye come to the sustenaunce of man.
† c. Stormy weather; also, a storm. So great, strong weathering (cf. F. gros temps). Obs.
c. 1450. Contin. Brut, 482. Þere was such wedryng of thonder, lightnyng, hayll and rayne, þat the peple were sore adredde.
c. 1450. Lovelich, Grail, II. 68. So thanne Cam þere bothe wynd & wedrynge, and fer Into the See it gan hem brynge.
1455. Rolls of Parlt., V. 335. Atte all tymes that any Carrik or Galey arryveth by force of Wederynge … in the Portes.
1490. Caxton, Eneydos, xv. 52. The duke Eneas and Dydo fleynge the wedrynge, shalle rendre hemself bothe togydre alle alone. Ibid., 55. Vnto the tyme that the sayde cloudes were well thyk gadred with the stronge wedrynge that surprised them all atones.
a. 1513. Fabyan, Chron., V. cii. (1811), 76. Both hoostes were so greuously betyn with the sayd tempest and wederynge. Ibid., VII. ccxxiii. 249. In … the .v. daye of October, passynge tempeste of wederynge fell in sondry places of Englonde.
1526. in Willis & Clark, Cambridge (1886), I. 616. For defense of great wyndes and outragious wetheringes.
1605. Stow, Ann., 633. On Candlemas euen … was great weathering of wind, hayle, snow, rayne.
2. The action of exposing a hawk to the action of the weather. (Cf. WEATHER v. 1 a.)
1575. Turberv., Faulconrie, 76. He muste remember euery euening to tye out his hawke a weathering.
1677. N. Cox, Gentl. Recreat., II. (ed. 2), 163. Weathering, is when you air your Hawk in Frost, Sun, or by the Fire-side.
1773. J. Campbell, Mod. Faulconry, 264. Weathering, the setting out of a hawk to take the air.
attrib. 1635. Quarles, Embl., V. ix. 5. Ev’n like the Hawlk, (whose keepers wary hands Have made a prisner to her wethring stock). [See STOCK sb.1 19.]
3. The action of the atmospheric agencies or elements on substances exposed to its influence; the discoloration, disintegration, etc., resulting from this action.
1665. J. Webb, Stone-Heng (1725), 88. The weathering of so many Centuries of Years.
1757. trans. J. F. Henckel’s Pyritol., v. 87. The ore on sinter is a plain and easy proof in behalf of a weathering, or a production by damps, rather than by way of streaming.
1774. Phil. Trans., LXIV. 489. The miners have called this decaying of the sulphurous ores of copper, iron, and other metals and semi-metals, the weathering of these ores.
1830. Lyell, Princ. Geol., I. 211. It is snow-white, a description which is very applicable to the newer part of the deposit at San Filippo, where it has not become darkened by weathering.
1845. J. Phillips, Geol., in Encycl. Metrop., VI. 702/2. The weathering of the surfaces of buildings by the fluctuations of heat and moisture is partly dependent on the structure and composition of the stone.
1856. Ruskin, Mod. Paint., IV. V. xvii. § 2. Now this sculpture by streams, or by gradual weathering, is the finishing work by which Nature brings her mountain forms into the state in which she intends us … to … love them.
1878. A. K. Johnston’s Africa, viii. 94. Hills of red sand formed from the weathering of a ferruginous sandstone of which the plain … is composed.
1888. Rutley, Rock-Forming Min., 122. Through weathering, the iron … becomes converted into sesquioxide.
1914. Moir, in Man, XIV. 179. The second part of my paper … deals with the ‘weathering out’ of scratches upon flint.
b. The action of the elements (on land, clay, etc.) as a beneficial agency; the state of being pulverized and rendered workable by this action.
1548. Latimer, Ploughers (1562), 16. And I feare me this land is not yet rype to be plowed. For as the saying is: It lacketh wetheryng: This geare lacketh wethering, at least waye it is not for me to plough.
c. Philol. Phonetic decay. rare.
1870. F. A. March, Gram. Anglo-Sax., § 102. Weathering of Case-endings. Ibid., § 226. Weathering of Inflexion Endings.
d. Exposure (of the face or skin) to all kinds of weather.
1887. Stevenson, Mem. & Portr., vi. 96. His face … was ruddy and stiff with weathering.
4. Naut. The action of passing (an object) on the windward side. Also attrib.
1878. Dixon Kemp, Yacht & Boat Sailing, 378/2. Weathering.—A relative term used in sailing to define the action of one vessel that is eating to windward of another.
1894. Times, 30 July, 7/3. Britannia had stood far enough out into the English Channel to get weathering distance and was making a clever fetch of it.
5. Arch. A projecting course on the face of a wall, serving as a ‘drip’ to throw off rain-water; a sloped ‘set off’ of a wall or buttress; the inclination or slope given to a surface in order to prevent the lodgement of water.
1739. Labelye, Piers Westm. Bridge, 69. The Sally, or Projection of a Cordon or rustic Cornish … serves also as a Weathering to the Stone-work.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 545. The measurer takes a line or tape and begins … at the plinth, then stretching the line to the top, bends it into the offset, or weathering.
1833. Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 1882. The massive buttress, with its deep weatherings, or water-tables between each graduation or stage of the height.
1850. Parker, Gloss. Archit., Weathering, a slight inclination given to horizontal surfaces, especially in masonry, to prevent water from lodging on them.
1875. Brash, Eccl. Archit. Irel., 98/1. The weatherings of which were contrived with skill and judgment.
attrib. 1886. Cheshire Gloss., Weathering course, bricks set out from the wall round the bottom of a chimney, to protect the thatch where it joins the chimney.
