weft

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English wefte,^[2][1] inherited from Old English weft, also wefta,^[3][2][4][5] formed from the stem of wefan (“to weave”) with a suffix -t;^[6][3] Hoad and the OED reconstruct Germanic types with this suffix from the base of weave,^[7][5] and Etymonline gives Proto-Germanic *weftaz.^[2] It corresponds to Old Norse veptr and vipta, and to Middle High German wift (“fine thread”).^[5][7][8] That verb goes back to Proto-Germanic *webaną,^[1] related to Proto-Indo-European *webh- (“to weave”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The threads that cross a warp: before 800,^[3] in Old English glosses of Latin words, including the Corpus Glossary.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

From before 1398 weft could also mean anything spun or woven, and figuratively from about 1400.^[5][8] Johnson (1755) simply defined it as "the woof of cloth".^[10] Later extensions include yarn for the cross threads (1795), and the cane or palm-leaf strips of a basket or mat (1845),^[5][8] a streak of cloud or layer of smoke or mist, in Shelley (before 1822),^[5][8] and in botany a layer of fungal hyphae (1875).^[5][8] A film over the eye was also called a weft in 1661.^[5] In Lancashire dialect weft meant energy or strength of character, and in Ulster "to put in the weft too fine" meant to carry an analogy too far.^[11]

Timeline

• before 800 – the cross threads of a woven fabric.^[3][5]
• before 1398 – that which is spun or woven.^[5]
• c. 1400 – figurative, something spun or woven.^[5]
• 1661 – a film over the eye (obsolete).^[5]
• 1786 – verb, to form a weft or web, in Burns.^[5]
• 1795 – yarn used for the cross threads.^[5]
• before 1822 – a streak of cloud or thin layer of mist.^[5]
• 1845 – strips used as filling in baskets and mats.^[5]
• 1875 – a layer of interwoven hyphae in some fungi.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The threads that run across a fabric, at right angles to the warp; the woof: The red weft gave the blue cloth a purple sheen.^[12][13][5]
2. Yarn used for these threads.^[13][5]
3. The strips of cane, straw or palm leaf used as filling in weaving baskets and mats.^[5][8]
4. Something woven; a fabric.^[13][5]
5. A streak of cloud or a thin layer of smoke or mist.^[5][8]
6. (botany) A layer of closely interwoven hyphae in certain fungi, or a mass of interwoven shoots in some mosses.^[5][8]

Verb

1. To form a weft or web.^[13][5]

Word family

• weftwise

Related words

• weave
• web
• woof
• warp
• waif

Usage notes

An archaic weft, "a waif", has a separate source: it is an alteration of waif, recorded from 1579 to 1827.^[5][13][8] Johnson (1755) entered it apart from the weaving word.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ 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)
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster