welt

Etymology 1

From Middle English welten, from Old English weltan, wieltan, from Proto-Germanic *waltijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to turn; wind; twist”). Cognate with German wälzen, Danish vælte, Swedish välta, Icelandic velta.

verb

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To roll; revolve

Etymology 2

Circa 1425, a shoemaker's term. Perhaps related to Middle English welten (“to overturn, roll over”), from Old Norse velta (“to roll”). Meaning "ridge on the skin from a wound" first recorded 1800.

noun

1. A ridge or lump on the skin, as caused by a blow.
   She was nearly four feet long, with a large welt on her shell, which was encrusted with ancient-looking barnacles. 2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, chapter 7, in The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Henry Holt and Company
2. (shoemaking) A strip of leather set into the seam between the outsole of a shoe and the upper, through which these parts are joined by stitching or stapling.
3. A strip of material or covered cord applied to a seam or garment edge to strengthen or cover it.
   [The] Mantle of this Order was of Skie-coloured Damask, having broad welt of Gold embroidered on the Collar, and … 1672, Elias Ashmole, The institution, laws & ceremonies of the most noble Order of the Garter, chapter III, section 1
   […] surmounted of another Azure: but in my Judgment, it rather represents a Hem, or Welt of a Belt, or an Edg of Silver, than two Belts one upon another; which the Bend properly signifie […] 1688, Randle Holme, The academy of armory, book 1, chapter IV, "Of the Bend divers ways"
4. In steam boilers and sheet-iron work, a strip riveted upon the edges of plates that form a butt joint.
5. In carpentry, a strip of wood fastened over a flush seam or joint, or an angle, to strengthen it.
6. In machine-made stockings, a strip, or flap, of which the heel is formed.
7. (heraldry) A narrow border, as of an ordinary, especially one which does not extend all the way around the ends of it (where it touches the edges of the shield) as a fimbriation would.
   Therefore this may be taken for an Observation, that an edg, or hem, or welt, only runs on the sides of the Ordinary; but the Border invirons, or goeth clear round the same, […] 1688, Randle Holme, The academy of armory, book 1, chapter IV, "Of the Bend divers ways"
8. Any other feature resembling a welt (strip).
   The neighborhood is officially called Mid-City, but it is often referred to as Crenshaw. The area is wide and bright, a grid of small streets crisscrossed with boulevards and the welt of the I-10 freeway running along its southern edge. 2018, Susan Orlean, chapter 6, in The Library Book

verb

1. To cause to have welts; to beat.
2. To install welt (a welt or welts) to reinforce.

Etymology 3

verb

1. (UK, dialect, archaic, intransitive) To decay.
2. (UK, dialect, archaic, intransitive) To become stringy.