wield: [OE] To wield something is etymologically to ‘command’ or ‘rule’ it. Indeed, that is what the word originally meant in English. ‘Handle, use’ is a secondary development. It goes back to a prehistoric base *wald-, which also produced German walten, Lithuanian valdyti, Czech vládnouti, and Polish w?ada? ‘rule, govern’ and Russian vladet’ ‘possess, own’. And this in turn was probably an extension of Indo-European *wal-, source also of Latin valēre ‘be strong’, from which English gets valid, value, etc. => valid, value
wield (v.)
Old English weldan (Mercian), wieldan, wealdan (West Saxon) "have power over, compel, tame, subdue" (class VII strong verb; past tense weold, past participle gewealden), merged with weak verb wyldan, both from Proto-Germanic *waldan "to rule" (cognates: Old Saxon and Gothic waldan, Old Frisian walda "to govern, rule," Old Norse valda "to rule, wield, to cause," Old High German waltan, German walten "to rule, govern").
The Germanic words and cognates in Balto-Slavic (Old Church Slavonic vlado "to rule," vlasti "power," Russian vladeti "to reign, rule, possess, make use of," Lithuanian veldu "to rule, possess") probably are from PIE *woldh-, extended form of root *wal- "to be strong, to rule" (see valiant). Related: Wielded; wielding.
例文
1. The two firms wield enormous clout in financial markets.
両社は金融市場で非常に大きな影響力を持っている。
2.They wield enormous political power.
彼らは巨大な政治権力を行使している。
3.The men who wield the power are certainly backing him to the hilt.
権力者は全力で彼を支持しているに違いない。
4.The President offered compromises to parliament to defuse the battle of wills over who should wield power.
大統領は、この長い権力争いを終わらせるために国会に譲歩した。
5.He who knows only how to wield a pen usually feels quite helpless in the face of practical problems.