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weighty

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Etymology and origin of the English word weighty

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1398 before 1398, Trevisa's Bartholomaeus More words from the 14th century
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *wegh-
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English weight
English weighty
From the same root
English heavyweight ← weight
English lightweight ← weight
English overweight ← weight
English welterweight ← weight

Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English weghti,[2][3] also spelled weighti and wighti,[2] formed from English weight + -y.[4][3][5] The noun goes back to Old English wiht, from Proto-Germanic *wihti-,[3] and is from the same root as weigh, Proto-Indo-European *wegh-.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Heavy: before 1398, in the Middle English Dictionary's quotation from Trevisa's Bartholomaeus, where weighty things are said to move downward because of their heaviness, glossing Latin ponderosa.[2] Etymonline likewise dates the sense "having much weight" to the late 14th century.[3] The OED has later first dates: 1489 for "of great importance" and 1500 for "heavy".[4]

Semantic evolution

By 1489 a weighty matter was one of great gravity, needing earnest thought.[4][3] In the 16th century the word could also mean hard to bear, oppressive (1540),[4] a sense the Middle English Dictionary already records as "burdensome" before 1500;[2] from 1560 an argument was weighty if it had the power to convince.[4] People could be weighty in two ways: large and bulky of body (1581) or, since 1662, having great authority or influence.[4] Johnson (1755) gave first "heavy; ponderous" and then "important; momentous; efficacious".[6] Some uses died out: full weight, of coin (1617–1737), and rigorous or severe, once in Shakespeare's Timon of Athens.[4] In Scots and Cheshire dialect it meant heavy or corpulent, and an Ayrshire phrase, weighty in the foot, described a woman far on in pregnancy.[7] A British teenagers' slang use for "good" is recorded in 2003.[8]

Timeline

  • before 1398 – heavy, massive.[2] The OED's first record of this sense is from 1500.[4]
  • 1489 – of great gravity or significance, momentous.[4][3]
  • before 1500 – burdensome.[2] The OED dates hard to bear, oppressive, from 1540.[4]
  • 1558 – of a substantial or solid nature.[4]
  • 1560 – of an argument, forcible, convincing.[4]
  • 1581 – of persons or animals, large and bulky.[4]
  • 1585 – heavy in proportion to its bulk, dense.[4]
  • 1617 – of coin, of full weight (obsolete by 1737).[4]
  • 1662 – of persons, having great authority or influence.[4]
  • 2003 – British teenagers' slang, good.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of great importance or consequence; momentous: a weighty decision for the committee.[9][10][4]
  2. Showing seriousness or gravity; solemn: a weighty silence.[10]
  3. Having great weight; heavy: a weighty crate.[9][10][4]
  4. Hard to bear; burdensome, causing anxiety: weighty responsibilities.[9][4][5]
  5. Of an argument or statement, able to convince; forcible.[4][5]
  6. Of a person, having great authority or influence.[4][5]
  7. (obsolete, 1617–1737) Of coin, of the full or legal weight.[4][5]

Word family

  • weightily
  • weightiness
  • unweighty

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 d e f g 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 u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  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. ^ 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)
  8. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
Cite this entry

“Weighty.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/weighty. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

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