waist English · revision 13603

− Middle English wast is a word of uncertain origin,^(Etymonline) possibly from Old English [[m|ang|*wæst|t=growth, size]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) related to wæstm, growth, and cognate with Old Norse vǫxtr and Gothic wahstus, growth, stature,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) all from the root of [[wax]], to grow.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) The OED compares French taille, where “waist” seems to have developed from “size of the body”.^(Barnhart 1988)