waistline C2+ Topic:The Human Body US /ˈweɪst.laɪn/ UK /ˈweɪst.laɪn/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the line of the waist of the body or a garment, or one's girth there Years of rich food had thickened his waistline. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the line of the waist of... waistgirthmidriff Word family Related forms waistwaistbandline Etymology AI details A compound of waist (from Middle English wast, from a Germanic base related to wax 'to grow') and line. wast Middle English linea Latin View etymology graph -> Topics The Human Body External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # waistline **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈweɪst.laɪn/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈweɪst.laɪn/ ## Meanings 1. the line of the waist of the body or a garment, or one's girth there ## Examples - Years of rich food had thickened his waistline. ## Synonyms - waist - girth - midriff ## Related Forms - waist - waistband - line ## Roots and Affixes - Root: wast - Root: linea ## Etymology A compound of waist (from Middle English wast, from a Germanic base related to wax 'to grow') and line. ## AI Etymology Waistline is a compound of waist (from Middle English wast, from a Germanic base related to wax 'to grow') and line. In current use it is a noun meaning "the line of the waist of the body or a garment, or one's girth there". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The historical chain includes Middle English wast and Latin linea. Related English forms include waist, waistband, and line. The word's history is thus visible in its construction: the components remain interpretable even after the whole expression has settled into a conventional English meaning. ## Topics - The Human Body markdown