Etymologically
Log in

lightweight

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word lightweight

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1770, The Younger Brother

Pronunciation

  • US: /ˈlaɪt.weɪt/, /laɪtˈweɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of light (the adjective meaning “not heavy”) and weight;[2][3][4] the OED compares heavyweight and Leichtgewicht, recorded in the 18th century.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person or animal of less than average weight: 1770, in the novel The Younger Brother.[2] Etymonline dates the noun to 1773, in horse racing and boxing,[3] and Dictionary.com gives 1765–75.[5]

Semantic evolution

The noun spread through sport: a horse carrying a light handicap or a jockey riding at a low weight from 1773, in a letter of Edmund Burke,[2] a boxer in a weight class between featherweight and welterweight from 1817,[2][4] and a rower in a weight-limited class from 1834.[2] The adjective is first recorded in its figurative sense, “insignificant, lacking depth”, in 1809, in E. S. Barrett's satire The Setting Sun,[2][3][6] and Merriam-Webster also dates this sense to 1809.[7] The noun was applied in the same way to a person or thing of little importance from 1831,[2] a use Green's Dictionary of Slang records as originally American.[6] The literal adjective, light in weight, is recorded for clothes and materials from 1837;[2] a lightweight garment, especially a suit, is a lightweight from 1919,[2] and a person who gets drunk easily from 1937.[2] A verb, to reduce the weight of materials in a product or its packaging, appears in 1955.[2]

Timeline

  • 1770 – noun: a person or animal under the average weight.[2]
  • 1773 – horse racing: a horse carrying a light weight.[2][3]
  • 1809 – adjective: insignificant, trivial.[2][7]
  • 1817 – boxing: a weight class and a boxer in it.[2]
  • 1831 – noun: a person of little importance.[2]
  • 1837 – adjective: light in weight.[2]
  • 1937 – a person with a low tolerance for alcohol.[2]
  • 1955 – verb: to reduce the weight of a product.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A boxer or other competitor in the weight class between featherweight and welterweight; the class itself.
  2. A person or thing of little importance, influence or intellectual depth: As a minister she was dismissed as a lightweight.
  3. Something that weighs less than average, such as a light garment.
  4. (informal) Someone who becomes drunk after very little alcohol.

Adjective

  1. Light in weight, especially lighter than usual for its kind: a lightweight tent.
  2. Of little importance or seriousness; trivial.
  3. Of or relating to the lightweight class in sport.

Verb

  1. To make a product or its packaging lighter by using less material.

Word family

  • ultralightweight

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b 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 Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
Cite this entry

“Lightweight.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/lightweight. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·