What does weel mean?
Weel is chiefly a Scottish word with several established uses. As an adverb, it means "well," so a person who "did weel" performed satisfactorily or successfully. As an adjective, it can mean "whole" or "entire," as in "the weel lot." The verb means "to conceal or hide," while the corresponding noun denotes a secret or hidden matter. These uses are common in Scottish English but may sound dialectal to speakers of standard British and American English. The spelling also has an older, archaic connection with "wheel": it was formerly used for the rotating device itself and for the action of turning on wheels. The word is therefore a useful example of how one compact form can preserve both regional meanings and superseded spellings. In contemporary use, its strongest associations are with Scottish speech, particularly the expressions "did weel" and the act of concealing something.
Chiefly Scottish: in a satisfactory, successful, or effective manner; well.
"The younger apprentice did weel after only a week."
Particularly characteristic of Scottish English; it may be perceived as dialectal outside Scotland.
Chiefly Scottish: whole, entire, or all of something.
"The weel family came to the gathering."
Common in set expressions such as "the weel lot."
Chiefly Scottish: to conceal or hide something; also, archaically, to turn or move something on a wheel.
"She could weel her disappointment behind a smile."
The Scottish meaning of concealing something is now more characteristic than the archaic wheel-related meaning.
Chiefly Scottish: a secret or hidden matter; archaically, a wheel.
"Was that a weel you had kept from me?"
The Scottish secret sense is uncommon outside regional usage, while the wheel sense belongs to older English.
The regular plural is weels. The Scottish noun meaning "a secret" is seldom counted, whereas the archaic noun meaning "wheel" takes the ordinary plural in older usage.
"The old wagon had two cracked weels."
Weel can praise an achievement with "you did weel" or conceal a secret—quite a range for one Scots word.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of weel
The Scottish adverb and adjective weel are traditional Scottish forms of English well, which descends from Old English wæl and belongs to a Germanic word family also represented in English by wealth and wellness. The Scottish senses meaning "to hide" and "a secret" are separately recorded in northern British usage, though their precise older derivation should not be inferred from the homographic wheel forms. The archaic sense of "wheel" comes through Middle English and Old English hwēol, the historical ancestor of modern English wheel.
How weel is actually used
The meanings meaning "well," "whole," "hide," and "secret" are recognizably Scottish and may sound archaic or unusual to speakers of standard British and American English. The homographic forms meaning "wheel" are historical English spellings rather than ordinary modern usage.
Easily confused with weel
In its chiefly Scottish senses, weel means "well," "whole," or "to hide," whereas wheel is a circular device that rotates.