Etymologically
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overweight

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 22:03. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˌoʊvɚˈweɪt/, /ˈoʊvɚweɪt/[1]
  • UK: /ˌəʊvəˈweɪt/, /ˈəʊvəweɪt/[1]

Etymology

The noun and the adjective are formed from over- and the noun weight, and the verb from over- and the verb weight.[2][3][4][5] The OED compares Middle Dutch overwicht (modern overwicht (“overbalance”)), Middle Low German ȫverwicht (“excess weight”) and overvægt (“excess weight, predominance”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, weight beyond what is specified, allowed or suitable: 1552, in Richard Huloet's Abcedarium Anglico Latinum;[2][4] Dictionary.com dates it to 1545–55.[5]

Semantic evolution

By about 1577 the noun also meant too great a weight, now mostly figuratively,[2] and between 1626 and 1889 it meant greater weight than something else, preponderance: Johnson (1755) gave only this sense, quoting Bacon's "sinking into water is but an overweight of the body".[2][6] The excess-weight sense now survives mainly in horse racing, of weight carried above what the handicap demands.[2] The adjective "too heavy", of things, is recorded from 1621 in Thomas Mun's Discourse of Trade,[2][4] 1638 in the Collegiate and the 1630s in Etymonline;[7][3] of people it dates from 1899, in a medical journal, as does the noun for an overweight person.[2] The noun for the condition, obesity, followed in 1917.[2][3] The verb, to give too much weight to, is recorded from 1613 in Florio's Montaigne (1603 in the Collegiate),[2][4][7] and "to overload" from 1811.[2] In finance, from 1978, a fund or investor is overweight in a sector it holds more of than its share of the market.[2][8] In the Northumberland and Durham coal trade the overweight was the excess of the average weight over the standard weight in a fortnight, and in North Yorkshire the verb meant to overload.[9]

Timeline

  • 1552 – noun, weight beyond what is allowed.[2][4]
  • a1577 – noun, too great a weight.[2]
  • 1613 – verb, to give too much weight to.[2][4]
  • 1621 – adjective, too heavy.[2][4]
  • 1626 – noun, preponderance (obsolete by 1889).[2]
  • 1811 – verb, to overload.[2]
  • 1899 – adjective, of a person: heavier than is healthy; noun, an overweight person.[2]
  • 1917 – noun, obesity.[2][3]
  • 1978 – (finance) holding a disproportionate share of a sector.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of a person: weighing more than is normal or healthy for one's height and build; too fat.
  2. Of a thing: heavier than is allowed or usual: The airline charged extra for overweight suitcases.
  3. (finance) Holding more of a particular kind of investment than its share of the market would suggest.

Noun

  1. Weight beyond what is required or allowed; extra weight.
  2. The condition of being overweight; obesity.
  3. A person who is overweight.

Verb

  1. To give too much weight or importance to: The report overweights recent events.
  2. To put too much weight on; to overload.
  3. (finance) To invest more heavily in a particular sector than its share of the market.
  • underweight
  • overbalance
  • preponderance

References

  1. ^ a b 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 u 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 c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)