Etymograph

English

heft

Heft comes from Middle English heft ‘heaviness’, from heven ‘to lift, raise’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- ‘to seize’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-‘to seize’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyéti‘to be grasping’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*habjaną‘to lift’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*habbjan‘to lift’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500heven‘to lift, raise’
  6. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500heft‘heaviness’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1591same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-‘to seize’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyéti‘to be grasping’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*habjaną‘to lift’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*habbjan‘to lift’reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500heven‘to lift, raise’
  6. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500heft‘heaviness’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1591same form

Earliest quotation: 1591, Ludovico Ariosto, The XXX. Booke: “But Durindan at laſt fell vvith ſuch heft, /…”

Formed from heave + -t

Proto-Indo-European *kap- ‘to seize, hold’

…

Proto-Germanic *habjaną ‘to take up, lift’

Proto-West Germanic *habbjan ‘to lift’

Old English hebban ‘to lift, raise’

Middle English heven ‘to raise one's eyes or hair’

English heave

The story

The noun is derived from Late Middle English heft (‘heaviness; something heavy, a weight’), from heven (‘to lift, raise’) + -th (suffix denoting a condition, quality, state of being, etc., forming nouns), by analogy with the development of weft from weven (modern English weave), etc. (also compare words like cleft from cleave, and theft from thieve, where the development occurred in Old English or earlier languages). The English word is analysable as heave + -t (suffix forming nouns from verbs).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kap- ‘to seize’

head, except, capital, cash, captain, catch, capacity, behavior, chapter, escape, heavy, achieve, cape, heavily, acceptable, occupation, acceptance, cattle, cabin, haven, chapel, behave, capitol, capita, hawk, captive, precipitation, captivity, chef, chaplain, cad, conceive, conceivable, mischievous, mischief, capillary, precipitate, capo, cabana, occipital, 140 more

through Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti ‘to be grasping’

case, accept, receive, capable, cable, chase, capture, recipe, reception, perception, recipient, anticipation, anticipate, caption, capsule, susceptible, deception, cashier, cater, chassis, cassette, deceive, deceptive, casket, deceit, preoccupation, receivable, perceptible, cajon, kas, preceptor, chasse, sashay, 30 more

through Proto-Germanic *habjaną ‘to lift’

had, 3 more

through Middle English heven ‘to lift, raise’

haves, heaving, heave

Another origin of heft

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-‘to hold’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*habjaną‘to have’uncertain
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350hafa‘to have’uncertain
  4. Old Norse, derivedc. 800–1350hefð‘occupation’uncertain
  5. Scotsc. 1450–presentheft‘pasture which sheep are familiar with’
  6. Englishtodaysame form

The noun is borrowed from Scots heft, haft (‘pasture which sheep are familiar with; attachment of sheep to a pasture; number of sheep grazing on such a pasture; (obsolete) place of residence; situation’), probably from Old Norse hefð (‘occupation; possession; prescriptive right’), from hafa (‘to have; to keep, retain’), from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (‘to have; to hold’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-, *keh₂p- (‘to hold; to seize’). The verb is borrowed from Scots heft (‘to cause (cattle or sheep) to become familiar with a pasture; of animals: to become familiar with a pasture; (figurative) of a person: to become settled in an occupation or place’), probably from Old Norse hefða (‘to acquire prescriptive rights’), from hefð (noun): see above. Both the noun and verb may have been influenced by Scots heft (‘(noun) handle of an implement, haft; (verb) to fit (an implement) with a handle’).

Another origin of heft

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-‘to hold, seize’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haftijaną‘to bind’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350hepta‘to bind’
  4. Scotsc. 1450–presentheft‘a piece of pastureland which farm animals have become accustomed to’
  5. Englishtodaysame form

Another origin of heft

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂ptós‘grabbed’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haftaz‘captive, bound’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haftijaną‘to bind’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haftijanreconstructed
  5. Old High Germanc. 750–1050heften
  6. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350same form
  7. Germanc. 1650–presentsame form‘to fasten’
  8. German, derivedc. 1650–presentHeft‘issue of a serial publication, number’
  9. Englishtodayheft

Today it means

noun The feel of the weight of something; heaviness.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kap- / heft

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