weather English · revision 2808

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725, Beowulf|origins=gem-pro *wedrą}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈweð.ə/, US /ˈweð.ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|weder]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|weder|t=air, sky; breeze, storm]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*wedrą|alt=*wedra-|t=wind, weather]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) probably from the base of [[wind]].^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) Watkins derives it from [[ine-pro|*we-dhro-]], a suffixed form of the root *we- “to blow”, with Lithuanian vėtra “storm” and Old Church Slavonic vedro “good weather”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) but Boutkan finds this formally problematic and only the Slavic word a likely cognate.^(Etymonline) It is cognate with Old Saxon wedar, Old Norse veðr, Dutch weder, weer and German Wetter “storm, weather”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The change of d to th began in the late 15th century and was established by the end of the 16th, as in [[father]] and [[gather]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English, about 725 in ''Beowulf'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) where it meant air, sky, a breeze or a storm.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “bad weather, storm” is from about 1122,^(OED 1989) and violent wind with heavy rain, now dialect and nautical, from Old English.^(OED 1989) In nautical use from the late 14th century it meant “toward the wind, windward”, opposed to lee, and as a noun the direction the wind is blowing from.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Old English wederian meant “to be weather”,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) and Middle English wederen, “to expose to the open air”, is from 1440.^(Barnhart 1988) The figurative sense, “to come through safely”, from a ship riding out a storm, is from 1655,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and “to wear away by exposure to the weather” from 1757.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline notes that Greek and Latin had no generic word for weather: Latin tempestas first meant “time”.^(Etymonline) ''Weathercock'' is from the 13th century.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English weder.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1122 – bad weather.^(OED 1989)

+ * 13th century – ''weathercock''.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * late 14th century – nautical, windward.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1440 – verb, to expose to air.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1655 – verb, to come through safely.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1757 – verb, to wear away by exposure.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The state of the [[atmosphere]] at a time and place, as to heat, wind, rain and so on.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Bad or stormy weather.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To come through safely; to [[survive]]: ''weather the storm''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To wear away, change or [[discolor]] by exposure to the weather.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(nautical)'' To pass to the windward of.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(nautical)'' Facing the wind; [[windward]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[weatherer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[wind]]

+ * [[weathercock]]

+ * [[father]]

+ * [[gather]]

+ * [[tempest]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}