Obs. exc. arch. Forms: 3– wem (5 Sc. vem), 3–7 wemme, 4 wembe (6 wemb), 4–6 weme, 6 weam(e. [ME. wem, substituted for OE. wam(m, wom(m (see WAM), under the influence of the verb.]
1. Moral defilement; stain (of sin). Chiefly in phr. without(en) wem = IMMACULATE a. 1. Obs. exc. arch.
(a) a. 1225. Ancr. R., 10. Cleane religiun & wiðuten wem is iseon & helpen widewen [etc.].
c. 1290. St. Cecilia, 10, in S. Eng. Leg., 490. Lat, louerd, myn herte wiþoute wem be.
c. 1330. Assump. Virg. (B.M. MS.), 647. Marie … Clene maide and clene wyf, Clene widewe with oute wem.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter xviii. 14. If thar ware noght lordid of me, than i sall be withouten wem.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 304. Jamus telliþ of two religions; þe first is clene wit-oute wem…. þe secounde is veyn religioun.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., x. 37. My son shall in a madyn light … wythouten wem, os son thrugh glas.
c. 1475. Partenay, 466. That god … of the virgyn unfold Was born without wemme in hir attamed.
1538. Bp. Longland, Serm. bef. King, in Foxe, A. & M. (1570), 1253/2. Impollutus. He was vndefyled. He lyued cleane, without spotte or blotte, without wemme or stayne.
1561. Daus, trans. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573), 29. Therefore was the Church of Smyrna right excellent, howbeit not vtterly without any wem.
1858. Morris, Def. Guenevere, etc., 123. Rapunzel sings … Mary, maid withouten wem, Keep me!
(b) 1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 3111. Make not thy soule So wykked a wem To do wykkedness for pryde of hem. Ibid., 7446. Þe þredde [sin] ys þe werste wem.
1387–8. T. Usk, Test. Love, I. i. 74. I wot wel, wem ne spot may not abyde there so noble vertue haboundeth.
c. 1400. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483), I. xxii. (1859), 26. So clene of wem, that no thyng nedeth the To weyle, ne to wepe thy sinnes fore?
† b. With defining term, as of sin, etc. Obs.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, xviii. 14. I sall be withouten wembe [v.r. wem] of dedly gilt. Ibid. (c. 1340), Prose Tr., 38. For in hir [Mary] was full-hede of all vertus with-owttyne weme of synn.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. XXI. 136. A mayde … Withoute wommanes wem in-to þis worlde brouhte hym.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 11208 (Trin.). Iesu hir childe bar she þore … Mayden wiþouten wem of flesshe.
a. 1450. Mirk’s Festial, 77. Oure Lord Ihesu Crist þat oure lady conceyuet of þe Holy Gost wythout wem of hyr body.
c. 1450. Cov. Myst., Prol. 5. Mary … wold not be defylyde With spot nor wem of man.
1519. Horman, Vulg., 8 b. Our lady bare a chylde without any spot or wem of her virginite.
2. Material blemish, defect, injury or stain. Obs. exc. dial.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 378. Hwon þe gost iwent ut … wið-ute bruche & wið-ute wem, of his two huses.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., A. 1003. Saffer helde þe secounde stale, Þe calsydoyne þenne withouten wemme.
a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 930. That other bowe was of a plante Withoute wem, I dar warante.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, I. 185. Vppon þat hulle lettres þat were i-write in poudre were i-founde wiþ oute wem [L. illibatæ] at þe ȝeres ende.
c. 1420. Chron. Vilod., 4228. Alle herre clothus … were … clene wtouȝt spotte ore wemme.
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., IX. 157. Yf hit [water] be cleer apperyng like the skie, Withouten wem or signe of thingis vile.
1545. Ascham, Toxoph., II. 114. A bowe … not marred with knot, gaule, wyndeshake, wem, freate or pynche.
1553. Respublica, II. iii. 565. Naie, Honestie will not see a wemme on your Cote.
1565. Stapleton, trans. Bede’s Hist. Ch. Eng., 151. All the clothes, that were about hym, semed … without wem or any blemish.
1657. C. Beck, Universal Char., M 3. A wemme, v. flaw.
1691. Ray, S. & E.-Country Words, Wem, a small fault, hole, decay, or blemish; especially in cloth, Essex.
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, Wem, a small fretted place in a garment.
1889. N. W. Linc. Gloss., s.v., I’d no idee that tree was so full o’ wems as I’ve fun it oot to be.
† b. Hurt, harm, injury. Obs.–1
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1725), 76. So grete vengeance he nam of men of holy kirke, Þat not did no wem tille him ne no trespas.
† c. fig. A break or pause (in time). Obs.
1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuffe, 43. This scuffling or bopeepe in the darke they had a while without weame or bracke.
3. Bodily blemish, disfigurement or defect; also, the mark of a bodily injury, a cicatrix, a scar. Obs. exc. arch.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 6897. Ȝif … hire vet in eny wemme be ybroȝt, Holdeþ hom gulti of þe dede.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 19721. Men lete him dun Vte ouer þe walles o þe tun, Witvten ani wond or weme.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 2460. Þat barn þe best adoun sette Wiþoute eny maner wem þe worse it to greue.
1382. Wyclif, Exod. xii. 5. It shal ben a lombe withouten wemme [Vulg. absque macula].
1387. Trevisa, Higden, IV. 231. He schewed opounliche þe wemmes of the sore woundes [L. vulnerum cicatrices] þat he hadde i-fonge in Egipt.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 247. Macula is a wem in a mannys iȝe.
1448–9. Metham, Amoryus & Cleopes, 1866. Hole and sound, with-owte wemme off yowre woundys, Nowe vpryse.
a. 1500. Hist. K. Boccus & Sydracke (? 1510), Z iij. If a man … haue a wemme in a lym Shal a man vpbreyde it hym.
1526. R. Whytford, Martiloge, 122 b. A martyr slayne by ye swerde, whose holy body … was founde .xl. dayes after his dethe … hole wtout wemme.
1577–87. Holinshed, Chron., I. 92/1. There appeered in his head the signes and prints of ten wounds or more: all the which were growne into one wem.
1580. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 463. This is the Glasse Ladies wher-in I woulde haue you … rubbe out the wrinckles of the minde, and be not curious about the weams in the face.
a. 1613. Brerewood, Lang. & Relig., 196. Although the wound be in some sort healed, yet the wem or scar still remaineth.
1820. Scott, Monast., x. ‘It is even so,’ he added,… ‘neither wem nor wound—not as much as a rent in his frock!’
fig. 1513. Douglas, Æneis, IV. i. 46. I knaw and felis the wemmys and the way Of the ald fyre and flamb of luffis heit.
1623. Bingham, Xenophon, Comp. Rom. Manner of War, X 2 g. You spots and wems of noble Mars [trans. Lipsius vos maculae et vibices generosi Martis], which make the warres a refuge and sanctuarie for your villanies.
4. (By confusion with WEN1.) A raised spot; a protuberance.
1567. Maplet, Gr. Forest, 36 b. Theophrast sayth that it [the Cedar tree] is of marveylous highe growth,… about the bodie without wem or knot.
1584. D. Fenner, Def. Ministers (1587), 123. Wemmes, bunches, and needlesse waightes of fatte.
1610. Donne, Pseudo-Martyr, iv. § 31. 138. The Reformers … thought to … take off euery Mole, and paire away euery Wemme.
