weight etymology

Etymology

The word "weight" comes from the Old English word "wiht," which means "a measure of heaviness." The word "wiht" is thought to be derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*wegʰ-," which also means "to weigh." Other words that share this root include the Latin word "pondus" (weight) and the Greek word "βάρος" (baros, weight).

Meaning

The word "weight" has several different meanings. In physics, it refers to the force exerted on an object due to gravity. The weight of an object is equal to its mass times the acceleration due to gravity. In everyday usage, the word "weight" is often used to refer to the heaviness of an object. For example, we might say that a bag of groceries is "heavy" or that a car is "lightweight."

Origin

The word "weight" has been used in English for over 1,000 years. It first appeared in the written record in the early 11th century. The word was originally used to refer to the weight of objects, but it gradually came to be used in a more general sense to refer to the heaviness of anything.

weight relate terms

• weigh

  Etymology From Middle English weyen from Old English wēgan from Proto Germanic wēga

• dead weight

  Etymology and Origin The term dead weight has its origins in the maritime industry It

• dead

  Etymology Old English dead Proto Germanic dauðaz Proto Indo European dʰew Mea

• weight

  Etymology The word weight comes from the Old English word wiht which means a measur

• makeweight

  Etymology Makeweight is a compound word derived from two Old English words Make

• slant

  Etymology The word slant is derived from the Old English word slantan which means

• Angle

  Etymology The word angle comes from the Old English word angel meaning hook Mea

• pound

  Etymology The word pound comes from the Old English pund or pundt which itself

• ponderous

  Etymology The word ponderous comes from the Latin word ponderosus which means heavy

• mark

  Etymology The name Mark is derived from the Proto Indo European root merk meaning

• poise

  Etymology The word poise has two main etymological origins Old French pois meani

• load

  Etymology Origin Ancient Greek etymos meaning true or real Meaning The study o

• bias

  Etymology Origin Middle English bias from Old French bias from Late Latin biāc

• welterweight

  Etymology The word welterweight is derived from the Old English word wylter meaning