weigh

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To have a particular weight.

   The baby weighs almost four kilos now.

2. 2
   verb

   To measure how heavy something or someone is.

   The butcher weighed the chicken before wrapping it.

3. 3
   verb

   To think about something carefully before making a decision.

   You should weigh the costs and benefits before you buy a house.

4. 4
   verb

   To worry someone or feel like a heavy burden (often with 'on').

   The possible outcomes weigh heavily on their minds.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Weigh comes from Old English and can be traced to an ancient root that also produced Latin vehere, “to carry,” the source of vehicle. Earlier senses included “transport” and “raise,” the latter surviving in weigh anchor. The modern sense probably developed from lifting an object on scales; weight was remodeled under the influence of weigh but is not directly derived from it.

From Middle English weyen, from Old English wegan, from Proto-West Germanic *wegan, from Proto-Germanic *weganą (“to move, carry, weigh”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéǵʰeti, from *weǵʰ- (“to bring, transport”). Cognates Cognate with Scots wey, wee, Dutch wegen, German wiegen, wägen, Danish veje, Norwegian Bokmål veie, Norwegian Nynorsk vega. Doublet of wedge, wagon, way, and vector.

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External links

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