Etymologically
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heavyweight

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 01:45. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈhɛ.vi.weɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English heavy + weight.[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person or animal heavier than average: 1857, in G. A. Lawrence's novel Guy Livingstone;[2][6] Etymonline dates this first use to horses.[3]

Semantic evolution

In racing it was used of a jockey of more than average weight,[2][4] and since 1877 of fighters,[3] later as the name of the heaviest weight class in boxing and wrestling.[4][7] The figurative sense, a person of weight or influence, began as American colloquial use: Green's Dictionary of Slang quotes it from 1879,[8] and the OED cites the Century Dictionary's definition.[2] From 1928, in Edmund Blunden, a heavyweight could also be a large or serious work,[2][3] while since 1895 the word was used attributively of things particularly heavy of their kind.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 1857 – a person or animal heavier than average.[2][6][3]
  • 1877 – of fighters.[3]
  • 1879 – an important or influential person.[8]
  • 1895 – attributive, particularly heavy of its kind.[2]
  • 1928 – a work of large size or serious content.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person, animal or thing heavier than average.[7][6][2]
  2. A boxer or wrestler in the heaviest weight class, in professional boxing over 175 pounds; also the class itself.[7][6][4]
  3. (informal) An important or influential person: the heavyweights of the party.[7][6][4]
  4. An unusually large or heavy object, such as a truck or warship.[6]
  5. A large or serious work.[2]

Adjective

  1. Particularly heavy of its kind; of or relating to heavyweights: a heavyweight bout.[4][2]
  2. Important, influential or serious.[8][4]

Word family

  • superheavyweight
  • light heavyweight

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com