Etymologically
Log in

weak

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:51. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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

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