weak

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wiːk/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English wayke, weke,^[2][3] borrowed from Old Norse veikr (“lacking strength”),^[4][2][5] cognate with Old English wāc “weak, pliant, soft”,^[4][2] which did not survive past late Middle English,^[2] and with Old Saxon wēk, Dutch week and German weich “soft”,^[4][2] from Proto-Germanic *waikaz,^[2][5] from a verb meaning “to yield, give way”,^[5][6] which according to Watkins is from Proto-Indo-European *weik- (“to bend, wind”).^[4] The New Oxford takes it as Old English wāc reinforced by the Norse word.^[6] It is related to weaken, week and wicker.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Deficient in bodily strength; exhausted”, and “lacking moral strength”: about 1300 in Etymonline^[4] and Barnhart, in Havelok the Dane.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Of tools, “lacking effectiveness”, and of a combatant, “deficient in fighting power”, it is from the early 14th century,^[4] and of the voice by the early 14th century.^[4] “Lacking authority over others” is by the late 14th century,^[4] as is “fragile, breakable”.^[4] Of drinks and medicines, “not sufficiently imbued with the usual ingredients”, it is from the 1590s,^[4] and of a pulse, “faint”, by 1700.^[4] In grammar a weak verb, inflected by adding a syllable rather than by changing the root vowel, is from 1833, in contrast to strong.^[4] The chain no stronger than its weakest link is attested by 1846.^[4] In the Bible translations from Tyndale onward it renders Greek asthenēs.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – lacking strength.^[4][2]
• early 14th century – of a combatant; of the voice.^[4]
• late 14th century – fragile; lacking authority.^[4]
• 1590s – of drink.^[4]
• c. 1700 – of a pulse.^[4]
• 1833 – in grammar.^[4]
• 1846 – the weakest link.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Lacking physical strength or energy; feeble.
2. Likely to fail under pressure; lacking resistance.
3. Lacking firmness of character or will.
4. Lacking the usual strength of ingredients; diluted: weak tea.
5. Lacking skill or ability: weak in maths.
6. Not convincing: a weak argument.
7. In grammar, of verbs, forming the past tense by adding a suffix.

Word family

• weakly
• electroweak
• overweak
• weak-headed
• weak-kneed
• weak-minded
• weak-willed
• weaken

Related words

• weakling
• weakness
• week
• wicker
• vicar

Usage notes

The American Heritage distinguishes weak, the most widely applicable term, from feeble, frail, fragile, infirm, decrepit and debilitated.^[8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin