waist

English

Alternative forms

• waste, wast (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English waste, wast (“stature, waist”), from Old English *wǣst, *wǣxt, from Proto-Germanic *wahstuz (“growth, development, stature, build”), from Proto-Indo-European *aweks-, *auks-, *weks- (“to multiply, increase”). Cognate with Middle High German wahst (“growth”), Danish vækst (“growth”), Swedish växt (“growth, development, size”), Icelandic vöxtur (“growth”), Gothic  (wahstus, “growth”). Related to Old English weaxan (“to grow, increase”). More at wax.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /weɪst/
• Rhymes: -eɪst
• Homophones: waste

Noun

waist (plural waists)

1. The part of the body between the pelvis and the stomach.
2. A part of a piece of clothing that covers the waist.
3. The narrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects (e.g., bees, ants and wasps).
4. The middle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft.
5. (nautical) That part of the upper deck of a ship between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 18

     There he stood, very quietly overlooking some sailmakers who were mending a top-sail in the waist.

Derived terms

terms derived from waist

pantywaist waistband waistcoat

waistless waistline

Translations

part of the body between the pelvis and the stomach

• Albanian: bel (sq) m
• Arabic: خصر (ar) (xaṣr) m, وسط (ar) (wasaṭ) m

  Egyptian Arabic: وسط (weṣṭ) m

• Breton: dargreiz m, bandenn f
• Catalan: cintura f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 腰 (cmn) (yāo), 腰部 (cmn) (yāobù)

• Coptic: ϯⲡⲓ (dibi, tipi) f
• Czech: pas (cs) m
• Danish: talje (da) c
• Dutch: middel (nl) n
• Estonian: vöökoht (et)
• Finnish: vyötärö (fi)
• French: taille (fr) f
• Galician: cintura (gl) f, van (gl) m, cós (gl) m
• Georgian: წელი (ka) (celi) 
• German: Taille (de) f
• Greek: μέση (el) f (mési)
• Hungarian: derék (hu)
• Icelandic: mitti (is) n
• Ido: tayo

• Italian: vita (it) f, cintura (it) f, cintola (it) f
• Japanese: 胴のくびれ (ja) (どうのくびれ, dō-no kubire), 腰部 (ja) (ようぶ, yōbu), 胴回り (ja) (どうまわり, dōmawari)
• Kazakh: бел (kk) (bel) 
• Korean: 허리 (ko) (heori)
• Kurdish: navteng (ku) f, newq (ku) f, که‌مه‌ر (ku)
• Miyako: ヨーラ (jōra)
• Mongolian: бэлхүүс (mn) (belhüüs) 
• Norwegian: midje (no)
• Ottoman Turkish: بل (bel), بيل (bîl), کمر (kemer)
• Polish: talia (pl) f, pas (pl) m
• Portuguese: cintura (pt) f
• Romani: mashkar m
• Russian: талия (ru) (tálija) f 
• Scottish Gaelic: meadhan (gd) m
• Spanish: cintura (es) f
• Swedish: midja (sv)
• Tamil: இடுப்பு (ta)
• Telugu: నడుము (naDumu)
• Turkish: bel (tr)
• Tuvan: бел кежик (bel kežik), бел кеш (bel keš), бел кежи (bel keži)

a part of a piece of clothing that covers the waist

• Danish: talje (da) c
• French: taille (fr) f, ceinture (fr) f
• Icelandic: mitti (is) n

• Polish: pas (pl) m
• Scottish Gaelic: meadhan (gd) m

the narrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects

• Danish: hvepsetalje (da) c

• French: taille (fr) f

the middle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft

• Estonian: kesktekk (et)
• German: Rumpf (de) m

• Hungarian: törzs (hu)
• Russian: шкафут (ru) m (škafut)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Breton: bandenn f (2)
• Dutch: middendek n (4)
• Italian: vita f (2)

Anagrams

• Swati
• waits

External links

• Waist in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
• Waist on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Waist (disambiguation)

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Gothic

Romanization

waist

1. See 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄