wafer
[ˈwæ̝ɪ̯fəː] ~ [ˈwæ̝ɪ̯fɐ̝ː]
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.13 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A thin disk of consecrated unleavened bread used in communion.
noun
A soft disk originally made of flour, and later of gelatin or a similar substance, used to seal letters, attach papers etc.
noun
A thin disk of silicon or other semiconductor on which an electronic circuit is produced.
Example Sentences
- "I was at the Mathematical School, where the Maſter taught his Pupils after a Method ſcarce imaginable to us in Europe. The Propoſition and Demonſtration were fairly written on a thin Wafer, with Ink compoſed of a Cephalick Tincture. This the Student was to ſwallow upon a faſting Stomach, and for three days following eat nothing but Bread and Water. As the Wafer digeſted, the Tincture mounted to his Brain, bearing the Propoſition along with it."
- "The house supplied him with a wafer for his present purpose, with which, having sealed his letter, he returned hastily towards the brook side, in order to search for the things which he had there lost."
- "[M]y Father, who knew he was well, wafered the paragraph upon a sheet of paper, and sent to his Lodgings."
- "[T]he beginning of de Barral's end became manifest to the public in the shape of a half-sheet of note-paper wafered by the four corners on the closed door […]."
Etymology
From Middle English wafre, from Anglo-Norman wafre, waufre (Old French gaufre), from a Germanic source. Compare Middle Low German wāfel, Middle Dutch wafel (“honeycomb”), West Flemish wafer. See also waffle.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: wafre
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /wæɪ̯fəː/
- British English: /ˈweɪ̯fəː/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Food.
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Anzac wafer
communion wafer
Neapolitan wafer
silicon wafer
thin as a wafer
vanilla wafer
wafer ash
wafer bread