weak

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   deficient in intelligence or mental power

   a weak mind

2. 2
   adj

   likely to fail under stress or pressure

   the weak link in the chain

3. 3
   adj

   not having authority, political strength, or governing power

   a weak president

4. 4
   adj

   concerning verbs, having standard inflection

   The majority of verbs are weak verbs.

5. 5
   adj

   deficient or lacking in some skill

   he's weak in spelling

6. 6
   adj

   pronounced with little or no stress, referring to vowels or syllables

   A line in iambic pentameter has five weak syllables.

7. 7
   adj

   wanting in physical strength

   a weak pillar

8. 8
   adj

   tending downward in price

   a weak market for oil stocks

Etymology

From Middle English weyk, wayk, weik, waik, from Old Norse veikr (“weak”), from Proto-Germanic *waikwaz (“weak, yielded, pliant, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to bend, wind”). Cognate with Old English wāc (“weak, bendsome”), Saterland Frisian wook (“soft, gentle, tender”), West Frisian weak (“soft”), Dutch week (“soft, weak”), German weich (“weak, soft”), Norwegian veik (“weak”), Swedish vek (“weak, pliant”), Icelandic veikur (“bendsome, weak”). Related to Old English wīcan (“to yield”). Doublet of week and wick.