weigh
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Old English wegan, from Proto-Germanic *weganą, from Proto-Indo-European *wéǵʰe-, *weǵʰ-. Cognate with Scots wey or weich, Dutch wegen, German wiegen, wägen, Danish veje.
Pronunciation [edit]
Rhymes: -eɪ
- Homophones: way, wey, whey (in accents with the wine-whine merger)
Verb [edit]
weigh (third-person singular simple present weighs, present participle weighing, simple past and past participle weighed)
- (transitive) To determine the weight of an object.
- (transitive) Often with "out", to measure a certain amount of something by its weight, e.g. for sale.
- He weighed out two kilos of oranges for a client.
- (transitive, figuratively) To determine the intrinsic value or merit of an object, to evaluate.
- You have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.
- (transitive) To consider a subject.
- (intransitive) To have a certain weight.
- I weigh ten and a half stone.
- (transitive, nautical) To raise an anchor free of the seabed.
- (intransitive, nautical) To weigh anchor.
- 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, p. 91:
- Towards the evening we wayed, and approaching the shoare [...], we landed where there lay a many of baskets and much bloud, but saw not a Salvage.
- 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, p. 91:
Derived terms [edit]
Related terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to determine the weight of an object
to weigh out
to determine the intrinsic value or merit of an object
to consider a subject
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to have a certain weight
nautical: to raise an anchor
- 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.
