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Word Study
wafer
CIDE DICTIONARY
wafer, n. [OE. wafre, OF. waufre, qaufre, F. qaufre; of Teutonic origin; cf. LG. & D. wafel, G. waffel, Dan. vaffel, Sw. våffla; all akin to G. wabe a honeycomb, OHG. waba, being named from the resemblance to a honeycomb. G. wabe is probably akin to E. weave. See Weave, and cf. Waffle, Gauffer.].
- A thin cake made of flour and other ingredients. [1913 Webster]"Wafers piping hot out of the gleed." [1913 Webster]"The curious work in pastry, the fine cakes, wafers, and marchpanes." [1913 Webster]"A woman's oaths are wafers -- break with making" [1913 Webster]
- A thin cake or piece of bread (commonly unleavened, circular, and stamped with a crucifix or with the sacred monogram) used in the Eucharist, as in the Roman Catholic Church. [1913 Webster]
- An adhesive disk of dried paste, made of flour, gelatin, isinglass, or the like, and coloring matter, -- used in sealing letters and other documents. [1913 Webster]
- Any thin but rigid plate of solid material, esp. of discoidal shape; -- a term used commonly to refer to the thin slices of silicon used as starting material for the manufacture of integrated circuits. [PJC]
wafer, v. t.
To seal or close with a wafer. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
wafer, n. & v.
--n.
1 a very thin light crisp sweet biscuit, esp. of a kind eaten with ice-cream.
2 a thin disc of unleavened bread used in the Eucharist.
3 a disc of red paper stuck on a legal document instead of a seal.
4 Electronics a very thin slice of a semiconductor crystal used as the substrate for solid-state circuitry.
5 hist. a small disc of dried paste formerly used for fastening letters, holding papers together, etc.
--v.tr. fasten or seal with a wafer.
--n.
1 a very thin light crisp sweet biscuit, esp. of a kind eaten with ice-cream.
2 a thin disc of unleavened bread used in the Eucharist.
3 a disc of red paper stuck on a legal document instead of a seal.
4 Electronics a very thin slice of a semiconductor crystal used as the substrate for solid-state circuitry.
5 hist. a small disc of dried paste formerly used for fastening letters, holding papers together, etc.
--v.tr. fasten or seal with a wafer.
Idiom
wafer-thin very thin.
Derivative
wafery adj.
Etymology
ME f. AF wafre, ONF waufre, OF gaufre (cf. GOFFER) f. MLG wafel waffle: cf. WAFFLE(2)
THESAURUS
wafer
Brussels biscuit, Communion, Eucharist, Holy Communion, Host, Last Supper, Melba toast, Sacrament Sunday, altar bread, biscuit, bread, bread and wine, coat, coating, collop, consecrated bread, consecrated elements, consubstantiation, covering, cracker, cut, deal, disk, elements, feuille, film, flap, foil, fold, graham cracker, gruel, hardtack, impanation, intinction, lamella, lamina, laminated glass, laminated wood, lap, lath, leaf, loaf, membrane, mere shadow, pane, panel, paper, patina, peel, pellicle, pilot biscuit, plait, plank, plate, plating, ply, plywood, pretzel, rail, rake, rasher, real presence, rusk, safety glass, saltine, scum, sea biscuit, shadow, shaving, sheet, ship biscuit, sinker, skeleton, skin, slab, slat, slice, slip, soda cracker, soup, splinter, streak, subpanation, table, tablet, the Holy Sacrament, the Sacrament, transubstantiation, vein, veneer, zwiebackROGET THESAURUS
wafer
Connection
N connection, vinculum, link, connective, connection, junction, bond of union, copula, hyphen, intermedium, bracket, bridge, stepping-stone, isthmus, bond, tendon, tendril, fiber, cord, cordage, riband, ribbon, rope, guy, cable, line, halser, hawser, painter, moorings, wire, chain, string, fastener, fastening, tie, ligament, ligature, strap, tackle, rigging, standing rigging, running rigging, traces, harness, yoke, band ribband, bandage, brace, roller, fillet, inkle, with, withe, withy, thong, braid, girder, tiebeam, girth, girdle, cestus, garter, halter, noose, lasso, surcingle, knot, running knot, cabestro, cinch, lariat, legadero, oxreim, suspenders, pin, corking pin, nail, brad, tack, skewer, staple, corrugated fastener, clamp, U-clamp, C-clamp, cramp, cramp iron, ratchet, detent, larigo, pawl, terret, treenail, screw, button, buckle, clasp, hasp, hinge, hank, catch, latch, bolt, latchet, tag, tooth, hook, hook and eye, lock, holdfast, padlock, rivet, anchor, grappling iron, trennel, stake, post, cement, glue, gum, paste, size, wafer, solder, lute, putty, birdlime, mortar, stucco, plaster, grout, viscum, shackle, rein, prop.Layer
N layer, stratum, strata, course, bed, zone, substratum, substrata, floor, flag, stage, story, tier, slab, escarpment, table, tablet, dess, flagstone, board, plank, trencher, platter, plate, lamina, lamella, sheet, foil, wafer, scale, flake, peel, coat, pellicle, membrane, film, leaf, slice, shive, cut, rasher, shaving, integument, eschar, stratification, scaliness, nest of boxes, coats of an onion, monolayer, bilayer, trilayer, lamellar, lamellated, lamelliform, layered, laminated, laminiferous, micaceous, schistose, schistous, scaly, filmy, membranous, pellicular, flaky, squamous, foliated, foliaceous, stratified, stratiform, tabular, discoid, spathic, spathose, trilamellar, graphitic.Also see definition of "wafer" in Bible Study Dictionaries
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