English
weight
Weight comes from Middle English weight, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *wihtiz.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wihtizreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wiht
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500weight
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wihtizreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wiht
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500weight
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606same form
Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “The waight of this ſad time we muſt obey[…]”
Formed from weigh + -t
Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to bring, transport’
…
Proto-Germanic *weganą ‘to move, carry, weigh’
Proto-West Germanic *wegan ‘to carry’
Old English wegan ‘to carry, bear’
Middle English weyen ‘to dispense a apportioned weight of’
English weigh
Linked words
through Old English wiht
Today it means
noun The downwards force an object experiences due to gravity.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *wihtiz / weight