woad

Etymology

From Middle English wode, from Old English wād (“woad”), from Proto-West Germanic *waiʀd, from Proto-Germanic *waizdaz (“woad”), from Proto-Indo-European *woydʰ-. Cognate with Old Frisian wēd (“woad”), Dutch wede (“woad”), German Waid (“woad”), and with French guède, Italian guado (“woad”) (both borrowed from Frankish). See also weed.

noun

1. (countable) The plant Isatis tinctoria.
   Woad is one of those plants which yield the deep blue colouring matter so greatly valued in the arts — Indigo. 1840, Francis S. Wiggins, The American Farmer's Instructor, Or Practical Agriculturist, page 185
   Woad was then placed on the regular shopping list of alternative crops. 1997, Joan Thirsk, Alternative Agriculture: A History, page 80
   The cultivation of woad had taken hold in southern England during the early 1580s, but this dispute provides the earliest evidence of its cultivation in the fields around Tewkesbury. 1998, Daniel C. Beaver, Parish Communities and Religious Conflict in the Vale of Gloucester, 1590-1690, page 32
2. (countable and uncountable) The blue dye made from the leaves of the plant.
   To prevent this, it was enacted, that no wines of Gaſcony and Guienne, or woads of Tholouſe, should be imported into England, except in ships belonging to the King, or some of his ſubjects; and that all ſuch wines and woads imported in foreign bottoms ſhould be forfeited. 1814, Robert Henry, The History of Great Britain, 5th edition, volume XII, page 309
   But in the middle of the sixteenth century indigo was introduced from the East Indies: and in the seventeenth century its use became extended, and supplanted that of woad. 1856, Albrecht Daniel Thaer, The Principles of Practical Agriculture, page 462
   Huge quanitities of alum and woad were disembarked each year at Southampton. 1983, E. B. Fryde, Studies in Medieval Trade and Finance, page 360
   For example, woad, a blue dye obtained from the plant Isatis tinctoria, was used throughout the Mediterannean and Europe and is often identified as indigo. 2007, Richard L. Myers, The 100 Most Important Chemical Compounds: A Reference Guide, page 152

verb

1. To plant or cultivate woad.
   Now as the tenants after woading, pay the ſame rent as before, one cannot wonder at landlords making use of such an easy method to raise money: but it is the tenants that quarrel most at it; they assert the land to be 7 sg. an acre the worse for it; here then lies the enquiry. 1771, Arthur Young, The Farmer's Tour through the East of England, page 59
   Such land was usually woaded for two, three or four years and then corned,[…]. 1968, Eric Kerridge, The Agricultural Revolution, page 209
   He planted woad on it, and engaged a person from the north to manage it; and the produce was so abundant as to afford immense profit. I believe he only woaded two years, and then let it. 1812, Edmund Burke, The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History, Politics, and Literature, For the Year 1811, page 517
2. To dye with woad.
   All woollen goods truly mathered, ſhall be marked with a red roſe, and a blue roſe, and all ſuch truly woaded throughout, with a blue roſe only; and if any perſon shall affix any ſuch mark falsely, he ſhall forfeit, for every piece ſo marked 4l. (ſee under). 1777, George Clark, The Penal Statutes Abridged, and Alphabetically Arranged, page 111
   Againſt a dyer for woading his cloth only to the third ſtall (whereas the custom of dyers was to woad it to the fourth ſtall) and then marking it with the company's seal as if it had been woaded to the fourth ſtall; he was found guilty of woading it only to the third ſtall, and not of ſetting ſuch mark to it, for which reaſon the court was of opinion no judgement ought to be againſt the defendant. 1793, Charles Viner, A General Abridgment of Law and Equity, volume 14, page 409
   This wool, when scowered, weighed 50 lbs.; when woaded blue, and picked, 48 lbs. 1809, Charles Henry Hunt, A Practical Treatise on the Merino and Anglo-Merino Breeds of Sheep, page 64