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Webster 1913 Edition

Weight

Weight

,
Noun.
[OE.
weght
,
wight
, AS.
gewiht
; akin to D.
gewigt
, G.
gewicht
, Icel.
vætt
, Sw.
vigt
, Dan.
vægt
. See
Weigh
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
The quality of being heavy; that property of bodies by which they tend toward the center of the earth; the effect of gravitative force, especially when expressed in certain units or standards, as pounds, grams, etc.
☞ Weight differs from gravity in being the effect of gravity, or the downward pressure of a body under the influence of gravity; hence, it constitutes a measure of the force of gravity, and being the resultant of all the forces exerted by gravity upon the different particles of the body, it is proportional to the quantity of matter in the body.
2.
The quantity of heaviness; comparative tendency to the center of the earth; the quantity of matter as estimated by the balance, or expressed numerically with reference to some standard unit;
as, a mass of stone having the
weight
of five hundred pounds
.
For sorrow, like a heavy-hanging bell,
Once set on ringing, with his own
weight
goes.
Shakespeare
3.
Hence, pressure; burden;
as, the
weight
of care or business
.
“The weight of this said time.”
Shak.
For the public all this
weight
he bears.
Milton.
[He] who singly bore the world’s sad
weight
.
Keble.
4.
Importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness;
as, a consideration of vast
weight
.
In such a point of
weight
, so near mine honor.
Shakespeare
5.
A scale, or graduated standard, of heaviness; a mode of estimating weight;
as, avoirdupois
weight
; troy
weight
; apothecaries'
weight
.
6.
A ponderous mass; something heavy;
as, a clock
weight
; a paper
weight
.
A man leapeth better with
weights
in his hands.
Bacon.
7.
A definite mass of iron, lead, brass, or other metal, to be used for ascertaining the weight of other bodies;
as, an ounce
weight
.
8.
(Mech.)
The resistance against which a machine acts, as opposed to the power which moves it.
[Obs.]
Atomic weight
.
(Chem.)
See under
Atomic
, and cf.
Element
.
–
Dead weight
,
Feather weight
,
Heavy weight
,
Light weight
,
etc. See under
Dead
,
Feather
, etc.
–
Weight of observation
(Astron. & Physics)
,
a number expressing the most probable relative value of each observation in determining the result of a series of observations of the same kind.
Syn. – Ponderousness; gravity; heaviness; pressure; burden; load; importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness.

Weight

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Weighted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Weighting
.]
1.
To load with a weight or weights; to load down; to make heavy; to attach weights to;
as, to
weight
a horse or a jockey at a race; to
weight
a whip handle
.
The arrows of satire, . . .
weighted
with sense.
Coleridge.
2.
(Astron. & Physics)
To assign a weight to; to express by a number the probable accuracy of, as an observation. See
Weight of observations
, under
Weight
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Weight

WEIGHT

,
Noun.
Wate. [See Weigh.]
1.
The quantity of a body, ascertained by the balance; in a philosophical sense, that quality of bodies by which they tend towards the center of the earth in a line perpendicular to its surface. In short, weight is gravity, and the weight of a particular body is the amount of its gravity, or of the force with which it tends to the center. The weight of a body is in direct proportion to its quantity of matter.
2.
A mass of iron, lead, brass or other metal, to be used for ascertaining the weight of other bodies; as a weight of an ounce, a pound, a quarter of a hundred, &c. The weights of nations are different except those of England and the United States, which are the same.
3.
A ponderous mass; something heavy.
A man leaps better with weights in his hands.
4.
Pressure; burden; as the weight of grief; weight of care; weight of business; weight of government.
5.
Importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness; as a argument of great weight; a consideration of vast weight. The dignity of a mans character adds weight to his words.

Definition 2024

weight

weight

English

Noun

Weight (3) for balance.

weight ‎(countable and uncountable, plural weights)

  1. The force on an object due to the gravitational attraction between it and the Earth (or whatever astronomical object it is primarily influenced by).
  2. An object used to make something heavier.
  3. A standardized block of metal used in a balance to measure the mass of another object.
  4. Importance or influence.
    • 1897, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:
      I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.
    • 1907 Alonso de Espinosa, Hakluyt Society & Sir Clements Robert Markham, The Guanches of Tenerife: the holy image of Our Lady of Candelaria, and the Spanish conquest and settlement, Printed for the Hakluyt Society, p116
      Another knight came to settle on the island, a man of much weight and position, on whom the Adelantados of all the island relied, and who was made a magistrate.
    • 1945 Mikia Pezas, The price of liberty, I. Washburn, Inc., p11
      "You surely are a man of some weight around here," I said.
  5. (weightlifting) A disc of iron, dumbbell, or barbell used for training the muscles.
    He's working out with weights.‎
  6. (physics) Mass (net weight, atomic weight, molecular weight, troy weight, carat weight, etc.).
  7. (statistics) A variable which multiplies a value for ease of statistical manipulation.
  8. (topology) The smallest cardinality of a base.
  9. (typography) The boldness of a font; the relative thickness of its strokes.
  10. (visual art) The relative thickness of a drawn rule or painted brushstroke, line weight.
  11. (visual art) The illusion of mass.
  12. (visual art) The thickness and opacity of paint.
  13. Pressure; burden.
    the weight of care or business‎
    • Shakespeare
      The weight of this sad time.
    • Milton
      For the public all this weight he bears.
  14. The resistance against which a machine acts, as opposed to the power which moves it.
  15. (slang, uncountable) Shipments of (often illegal) drugs.
    He was pushing weight.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Related terms

Verb

weight ‎(third-person singular simple present weights, present participle weighting, simple past and past participle weighted)

  1. (transitive) To add weight to something; to make something heavier.
    1. (transitive, dyeing) To load (fabrics) with barite, etc. to increase the weight.
  2. (transitive) To load, burden or oppress someone.
  3. (transitive, mathematics) To assign weights to individual statistics.
  4. (transitive) To bias something; to slant.
  5. (transitive, horse racing) To handicap a horse with a specified weight.

Translations

Etymology

From Middle English weight, weiȝte, weght, wight, from Old English wiht, ġewiht ‎(“weight”), from Proto-Germanic *wihtiz ("weight"; compare *weganą ‎(“to move”)), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‎(“to move; pull; draw; drive”).

Cognate with Scots wecht, weicht ‎(“weight”), Saterland Frisian Wächte ‎(“scale”), Saterland Frisian Gewicht ‎(“weight”), West Frisian gewicht ‎(“weight”), Dutch gewicht ‎(“weight”), German Low German Wicht, Gewicht ‎(“weight”), German Gewicht ‎(“weight”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /weɪt/
  • Rhymes: -eɪt
  • Homophone: wait

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