ppl. a. Also 5 -makyd.
1. Of a person or animal: Well-proportioned, of good build.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 8527. Quarre he was & wel ymad vor to be strong.
a. 1310. in Wright, Lyric P., 36. Heo hath a mete myddel smal, Body ant brest wel mad al.
c. 1375. Barbour, Bruce, I. 385. Off lymmys he wes weill maid, With banys gret & schuldrys braid.
1422. Yonge, trans. Secreta Secret., 226. Tho men whyche haue wel-makyd and synowy and stronge legges.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 486. War he ane manly man, as he is weill maid, He war full michtie.
1513. More, in Grafton, Chron. (1568), II. 786. She was … moderate of stature, well made, & very wise.
1664. Pepys, Diary, 15 Aug. He is a comely and well-made man.
1707. Lond. Gaz., No. 4391/4. A bay gelt Horse … well made and well ribb’d.
1783. Mrs. Cowley, Bold Stroke, v. (1784), 75. Let me see—a good air, and well made, you are the man for a dancer.
1849. C. Brontë, Shirley, iv. His stature was rather tall, and he was well-made and wiry.
1856. Kane, Arctic Explor., II. xx. 204. She was a tall, well-made woman.
2. Of things: Skilfully fabricated, constructed or contrived.
15[?]. Dunbar, Poems, xxviii. 21. Ȝe tailȝouris, with weilmaid clais Can mend the werst maid man that gais.
1577. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., I. 42 b. We content ourselues with our earthen floores, wel made and of good earth.
1601. Shaks., All’s Well, IV. iii. 254. Halfe won is match well made.
1621. in Foster, Eng. Factories Ind. (1906), 258. Greater qua[ntities] of well-made cloth.
1835. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Mr. Watkins Tottle, i. Her complexion … was as clear as that of a well-made wax doll.
1887. Spons’ Househ. Man., 715. A well-made toque is graceful, becoming, and comfortable.
1897. Daily News, 5 Jan., 6/1. There has been … a very decided reaction against the ‘well-made’ novel—that is the novel cunningly planned and ingeniously conducted to a definite dénouement.
