welter

adj

1. Heavyweight. (of horsemen)

   “a welter race”

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English welteren, equivalent to welt + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognates include German Low German weltern (“to wallow; roll”), Old Norse velta (Danish vælte), German wälzen, Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌻𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (waltjan). Akin to wallow and Latin volvō.

1. A general confusion or muddle, especially of a large number of items.

   “He would, except for his guests, have fled outdoors and walked off the intoxication of food, but in the haze which filled the room they sat forever, talking, talking, while he agonized, “Darn fool to be eating all this—not ’nother mouthful,” and discovered that he was again tasting the sickly welter of melted ice cream on his plate.”

   “And in truth, his mind was such a welter of opposites—of the night and the blazing candles, of the shabby poet and the great Queen, of silent fields and the clatter of serving men—that he could see nothing; or only a hand.”

2. A tossing or rolling about.

verb

Etymology: Compare wilt (intransitive verb).

1. To wither; to wilt.

   “1860, Isaac Taylor, Ultimate Civilization, and Other Essays, London: Bell & Dalday, “Ultimate Civilization,” Part I, IV, p. 40, But look now into the weltered hearts and blighted memories of those whom we have gathered from out of the thousands of the lost and wretched.”