weigh English · revision 10625

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725|origins=ang wegan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /weɪ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|wegan|t=to find the weight of, lift, carry, move]] (about 725, in Beowulf),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|gem-pro|*weganą]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) cognate with Dutch wegen, Old High German wegan, to move, weigh (German wiegen, and bewegen, to move), Old Norse vega and Gothic gawigan, to shake.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) It goes back to an Indo-European root meaning “to move, carry”, also in Latin vehere (see [[vehicle]]) and Sanskrit váhati, he carries.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) [[way]] is from the same root.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To lift, carry, move and to find the weight of: about 725.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline traces the prehistoric development from “move” to “lift, raise” to “bear up to find the weight of”, compare Latin pendere, to weigh, hang.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The sense to lift survives in ''weigh anchor'' (14th century).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) To consider or ponder, to weigh words or arguments, is from the mid-14th century,^(Etymonline) and ''weigh down'', first figurative, also from the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) To have weight or influence is an extension of having heaviness.^(Hoad 1986)^(AHD) ''Under weigh'' (1777) is an error for ''under way'', by association with weighing anchor.^(OED 1989)^(AHD) [[weight]] is not directly from weigh, but Old English gewiht was re-formed under its influence.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – wegan.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 14th century – to weigh anchor.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986)

+ * mid-14th century – to consider, ponder; weigh down.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1777 – under weigh.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To find how heavy something is, using a [[scale]] or balance.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To have a given [[weight]]: ''she weighs ten stone''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To consider carefully; to compare: ''to weigh the evidence''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To have influence or importance.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To press heavily on someone's mind, with ''on'': ''it weighed on him''.^(AHD)

+ # To raise a ship's anchor.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[weigher]]

+ * [[weighable]]

+ * [[checkweighman]]

+ * [[counterweigh]]

+ * [[outweigh]]

+ * [[reweigh]]

+ * [[weighbridge]]

+ * [[weighman]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[weight]]

+ * [[way]]

+ * [[vehicle]]

+ * [[wagon]]

+ * [[wey]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}