quword 趣词
Word Origins Dictionary
- weight (v.)[weight 词源字典]
- "to load with weight," 1747 (figuratively, of the mind, from 1640s), from weight (n.). Of horses in a handicap race, 1846. Sense in statistics is recorded from 1901. Related: Weighted; weighting.[weight etymology, weight origin, 英语词源]
- weightage (n.)
- 1893, from weight (n.) + -age.
- weightless (adj.)
- "having no weight," 1540s, from weight (n.) + -less. Related: Weightlessly; weightlessness (1867).
- weighty (adj.)
- late 14c., "heavy;" late 15c., "important, serious, grave;" from weight (n.) + -y (2). Related: Weightiness.
- Weimar (adj.)
- in reference to the pre-1933 democratic government of Germany, 1932, from name of city in Thuringia where German constitution was drawn up in 1919. The place name is a compound of Old High German wih "holy" + mari "lake" (see mere (n.)).
- Weimaraner (n.)
- dog breed, 1943, from Weimar, german city, + German suffix -aner indicating "of this place." Originally bred as a hunting dog in the Weimar region.
- weir (n.)
- Old English wer "dam, fence, enclosure," especially one for catching fish (related to werian "dam up"), from Proto-Germanic *wer-jon- (cognates: Old Norse ver, Old Frisian and Middle Dutch were, Dutch weer, Old High German wari, German Wehr "defense, protection," Gothic warjan "to defend, protect"), from PIE *wer- (5) "to cover, shut" (cognates: Sanskrit vatah "enclosure," vrnoti "covers, wraps, shuts;" Lithuanian užveriu "to shut, to close;" Old Persian *pari-varaka "protective;" Latin (op)erire "to cover," (ap)erire "open, uncover" (with ap- "off, away"); Old Church Slavonic vora "sealed, closed," vreti "shut;" Old Irish feronn "field," properly "enclosed land").
- weird (adj.)
- c. 1400, "having power to control fate, from wierd (n.), from Old English wyrd "fate, chance, fortune; destiny; the Fates," literally "that which comes," from Proto-Germanic *wurthiz (cognates: Old Saxon wurd, Old High German wurt "fate," Old Norse urðr "fate, one of the three Norns"), from PIE *wert- "to turn, to wind," (cognates: German werden, Old English weorðan "to become"), from root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (see versus). For sense development from "turning" to "becoming," compare phrase turn into "become."
The sense "uncanny, supernatural" developed from Middle English use of weird sisters for the three fates or Norns (in Germanic mythology), the goddesses who controlled human destiny. They were portrayed as odd or frightening in appearance, as in "Macbeth" (and especially in 18th and 19th century productions of it), which led to the adjectival meaning "odd-looking, uncanny" (1815); "odd, strange, disturbingly different" (1820). Related: Weirdly; weirdness. - weirdo (n.)
- "strange person," 1955, from weird. Compare earlier Scottish weirdie "young man with long hair and a beard" (1894).
- welch (v.)
- 1857, racing slang, "to refuse or avoid payment of money laid as a bet," probably a disparaging use of the national name Welsh. Related: Welched; welching.
- welcome (n.)
- Old English wilcuma "welcome!" exclamation of kindly greeting, from earlier wilcuma (n.) "welcome guest," literally "one whose coming suits another's will or wish," from willa "pleasure, desire, choice" (see will (n.)) + cuma "guest," related to cuman (see come). Similar formation in Old High German willicomo, Middle Dutch wellecome. Meaning "entertainment or public reception as a greeting" is recorded from 1530. The adjective is from Old English wilcuma. You're welcome as a formulaic response to thank you is attested from 1907. Welcome mat is from 1908; welcome wagon is attested from 1940.
- welcome (v.)
- Old English wilcumian "to welcome, greet gladly," from wilcuma (see welcome (n.)). Related: Welcomed; welcoming.
- weld (n.2)
- "joint formed by welding," 1831, from weld (v.).
- weld (v.)
- 1590s, "unite or consolidate by hammering or compression, often after softening by heating," alteration of well (v.) "to boil, rise;" influenced by past participle form welled. Related: Welded; welding.
- weld (n.1)
- plant (Resedo luteola) producing yellow dye, late 14c., from Old English *wealde, perhaps a variant of Old English wald "forest" (see wold). Spanish gualda, French gaude are Germanic loan-words.
- welder (n.)
- 1828, agent noun from weld (v.).
- welfare (n.)
- c. 1300, from Old English wel faran "condition of being or doing well," from wel (see well (adv.)) + faran "get along" (see fare (v.)). Similar formation in Old Norse velferð. Meaning "social concern for the well-being of children, the unemployed, etc." is first attested 1904; meaning "organized effort to provide for maintenance of members of a group" is from 1918. Welfare state is recorded from 1941.
- welkin (n.)
- "sky" (poetic), Old English wolcen "cloud," also "sky, heavens," from Proto-Germanic *welk- (cognates: Old Saxon wolkan, Old Frisian wolken, Middle Dutch wolke, Dutch wolk, Old High German wolka, German Wolke "cloud," from PIE *welg- "wet" (cognates: Lithuanian vilgyti "to moisten," Old Church Slavonic vlaga "moisture," Czech vlhky "damp").
- well (adv.)
- "in a satisfactory manner," Old English wel "abundantly, very, very much; indeed, to be sure; with good reason; nearly, for the most part," from Proto-Germanic *welo- (cognates: Old Saxon wela, Old Norse vel, Old Frisian wel, Dutch wel, Old High German wela, German wohl, Gothic waila "well"), from PIE root *wel- (2) "to wish, will" (cognates: Sanskrit prati varam "at will," Old Church Slavonic vole "well," Welsh gwell "better," Latin velle "to wish, will," Old English willan "to wish;" see will (v.)).
Also used in Old English as an interjection and an expression of surprise. The adjective was in Old English in the sense "in good fortune, happy," from the adverb; sense of "satisfactory" is from late 14c.; "agreeable to wish or desire" is from mid-15c.; "in good health, not ailing" is from 1550s. Well-to-do "prosperous" is recorded from 1825. - well (v.)
- "to spring, rise, gush," Old English wiellan (Anglian wællan), causative of weallan "to boil, bubble up, rise (in reference to a river)" (class VII strong verb; past tense weoll, past participle weallen), from Proto-Germanic *wall- "roll" (cognates: Old Saxon wallan, Old Norse vella, Old Frisian walla, Old High German wallan, German wallen, Gothic wulan "to bubble, boil"), from PIE root *wel- (3) "to turn, roll" (see volvox), on notion of "roiling or bubbling water."