Etymologically
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weaken

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • US: /ˈwikən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English weiknen, which the Middle English Dictionary and Etymonline take as probably borrowed from Old Norse veikna (“to become weak”);[2][3] the MED compares weik (“weak”), itself from Old Norse, with veikr as the base.[2] The OED allows either a borrowing from early Scandinavian, comparing the Old Icelandic verb (in a late source) and Old Swedish and Old Danish verbs, all meaning "to become weak", or a formation within English from weak and the verb suffix -en;[4] in later use it was probably formed independently in English.[4][5] Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com give only the English formation.[6][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of wine, to make the wits feeble or deranged: about 1400, in the poem Cleanness, where wine al waykned his wyt.[2][4] The MED reads the verb there as intransitive, "to become feeble or deranged", and the OED as transitive, "to reduce the ability of the mind to function".[2][4]

Semantic evolution

After the single Middle English record the verb reappears in the 16th century, now mostly transitive: Merriam-Webster dates its main transitive sense to 1530,[6] the OED records the lessening of authority or power from 1530 (Palsgrave) and the weakening of physical strength from about 1529,[4] and Etymonline dates the transitive sense to the 1560s.[3] From 1548 it was used of weakening an argument or a case, and since 1550 of weakening faith or resolve.[4] Intransitive uses followed: of the body from about 1541, of a nation or party from 1594, of the mind from Shakespeare's King Lear, and of power or influence only from 1833.[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to debilitate; to enfeeble; to deprive of strength".[9] The simple verb weak, recorded from about 1400, became obsolete, leaving weaken in its place.[3][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – to make or become feeble in mind, in Cleanness.[2][4]
  • c. 1529 – to lessen the physical strength of a person or animal.[4]
  • 1530 – to lessen authority, influence or power.[4][6]
  • 1548 – to weaken a nation or party; to weaken an argument.[4]
  • 1550 – to weaken faith or resolve.[4]
  • 1594 – intransitive, of a nation or party, to become weaker.[4]
  • 1662 – intransitive, of resolve, to lose strength.[4]
  • 1833 – intransitive, of power or influence, to diminish.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make weaker; to reduce the strength or vigour of: The long illness weakened her heart.[6][10][4]
  2. To become weak or weaker: His grip weakened as the hours passed.[10][11][4]
  3. To make less effective, convincing or authoritative: The new evidence weakened the prosecution's case.[4][6][12]
  4. To become less firm or resolute; to begin to give in.[11][4]

Word family

  • weakener
  • reweaken
  • weak
  • weakness
  • weakling

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ a b The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
  12. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press