▪ I. weight, n.1
(weɪt)
Forms: α. 1 ᵹewiht, ᵹewyht, 2 iwicht; 1–3 wiht, 3–5 wyht, wiȝt(e, 4–5 wyȝt(e, wyght(e, (4 wygthe), 4–6 whyght(e, 4–5 wighte, 4–7 wight (5 Sc. vycht); 4 wythe, 5 wyt(e, whyt(e, 4–5 witte, wytte. β. 3 Orm. wehht, 3–6 weght, 4–5 weghte, weȝt(e, 4– Sc. wecht (6 vecht); 3–4 weiht, 4–5 weyht(e, weiȝt(e, weyȝt(e, 4–6 weyght(e, 4–7 weighte (5 weigt-e, wheight-e; 5 Sc. weicht, 6 Sc. veicht, veycht, veyght, weycht), 4– weight; 5 waȝt-, 6–7 waight(e, wayght(e, (6 Sc. waicht, waycht, 7 wayht); 4–5 weit(e, (pl. wettes), 5 weyte, wheyt(e, weyth(e, wheith, whet(t)e, 6 waithe, 6 pl. waytts, 6–7 wait(e, 7 wayte.
[OE. wiht (? fem.), = OFris. wicht (WFris. wicht, NFris. wegt, wacht), MDu. and Du. wicht, MLG. and LG. wicht, wigt (whence MDa. vekt, Da. vægt, Norw. vegt; MSw. vekt, vikt, Sw. vigt), G. (irreg.) wucht, ON. vétt, vǽtt fem.:—OTeut. type *weχti-z, f. root *weᵹ-: see weigh v.1 The more usual form in OE. was ᵹewiht(e str. neut. = MDu. ghewichte (Du. gewicht), MLG. gewichte, gewechte, MHG. gewichte (G. gewicht):—OTeut. type *gaweχtjo-m. As the prefix i-, y- (:—OE. ᵹe-) in ns. fell away in early ME., the two formations coalesced in the 12th c. The normal descendant in mod.English of the OE. wiht would be *wight; the vowel of the β forms may be due partly to the influence of the prehistoric ON. *weht, and partly to association with weigh vb.]
I. Measurement of quantity by means of weighing; quantity (in the abstract) as determined in this way.
1. by weight: as determined by weighing. † without weight: taken unweighed.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 146 Ᵹenim þas wyrte & swinen smeru..æᵹþres ᵹelice micel be wihte. [Cf. Ibid. I. 148 Ᵹenim..ealra þyssa wyrta ᵹelice fela be ᵹewihte.] a 1123 O.E. Chron. an. 1086 (Laud MS.) Maniᵹ marc goldes & ma hundred punda seolfres. Ðet he nam be wihte..of his land⁓leode. c 1325 Chron. Eng. 503 (Ritson) He made thre condlen by wyht. 1340 Ayenb. 44 Huanne þo þet zelleþ be wyȝte purchaceþ and makeþ zuo moche þet [etc.]. c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. 1238 Alle soules..That shal to blisse, I peyse hem alle be wyte Whether in goodnesse thei ben heuy or lyghte. c 1460 Contin. Brut. 492 It was ordeyned þat þe gold in Englissh coygne shuld be weyed, & none receyved but by weght. 1539 Bible (Great) 2 Kings xxv. 16 The brasse of all these vesselles was without wayght. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. i. 32 To distribute the bysket..by weight. 1601 F. Tate Househ. Ord. Edw. II §15 (1876) 13 The serjant chaundeler shal receve the wax & lightes bi waight from the clarke of the spicery. c 1612 Turners Dish in Rollins Pepysian Garl. (1922) 36 You that sel your wares by waight, and live vpon the trade. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage ii. iii. 98 Besides iewels, and brasse, and iron, without weight, with Cedars and stones without number. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 561 With Axes first they cleave the Wine, and thence By Weight, the solid Portions they dispence. 1730 Conduitt Observ. Coins (1774) 10 Foreigners who take our guineas in quantities only by weight, may melt down the heavy ones. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 440 The proportions of acid and water were equal by weight. 1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 15 Of paper a pile..Which by weight had been purchas'd. |
2. Associated with
measure and
number,
esp. in figurative expressions referring to due proportion.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 439 Met of corn, and wiᵹte of fe, And merke of felde, first fond he. 13.. Cursor M. 23564 (Edin.) Of his werkes es noht vnhale, bot al in mette and weiht and tale. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7690 For he made alle thyng thurgh myght and sleght In certain noumbre and mesure and weght. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 321 It is good & resonable men to haue chirchis in mesure, & in numbre, & in weyhte, aftir þe hooly trinitee. c 1400 26 Pol. Poems xiv. 68 Let comon lawe his cours hold, Euene mesure, mett, and wyȝt. c 1480 Henryson Swallow 1666 All creature he maid for thi behufe..In number, wecht, and dew proportioun. 1551 Crowley Pleas. & Payne 562 You that by disceyte haue wonne, Were it in weyght or in measure. 1588 A. King in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.) 214 To vse falset in buying, selling or changing, in pryce, in weicht or mesure. |
3. a. Ponderability, as a general property of material substances; relative heaviness.
Also
transf. in
Phrenol. (see
quot. 1860).
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 231 (Fairf. MS.) His gilte here was corowned with a sonne I-stede of golde for heuynesse and wyght. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxx. (1495) 938 Two thynges makyth weyghte: lightnesse and heuynesse. 14.. Lydg. Beware of Doubleness 92 In balaunce whan they be peised, For lakke of weght they be bore down. c 1450 Merlin iii. 57 They..seide it was a thynge impossible to charge, they [the stones] were of soche gretnesse and wight. 1600 Shakes. All's Well ii. iii. 126 Our bloods Of colour, waight, and heat, pour'd all together, Would quite confound distinction. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 315/1 The Axe for the cutting of the great and large Bones..hath weight and substance in it. 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 183 As clocks to weight their nimble motion owe, The wheels above urg'd by the load below. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. 74 The wool had then very likely gained weight considerably. a 1790 Henry Hist. Gt. Brit. (1793) VI. 634 If the number of coins..did not actually make a pound in weight. 1858 Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Phil. 154 Air possesses, in common with all material substances, the qualities of impenetrability, inertia, and weight. 1860 Mayne Expos. Lex., Weight or Resistance,..a faculty common to man and to the lower animals..taking cognizance of weight and other kinds of mechanical force. |
| Phr. 1857 G. A. Lawrence Guy Liv. i, He had slowly gravitated on into his present position, on the old Ring principle—‘weight must tell’. |
b. In
fig. or
transf. uses.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. iii. (1886) 25 Yif any frute of mortal thinges may han any weyhte or pris of welefulnesse. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 41 b, In the weyght of this noble treasure, standeth all the effecte of the pilgrymage of perfeccyon. 1587 A. Day Daphnis & Chloe (1890) title-p., Excellently describing the weight of affection, the simplicitie of loue. 1658 R. Flecknoe Enigm. Char. 12 He hovers in his choice, like an empty Ballance with no waight of Judgement to incline him to either scale. 1787 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Ode upon Ode Wks. 1812 I. 443 And really I would rather be knock'd down By weight of argument than weight of fist. 1891 Cayley Math. Papers (1897) XIII. 110 It is for this purpose convenient to introduce the notion of ‘weight’; say a triangle has the weight 1, then a quadrangle,..divisible into two triangles, has the weight 2. |
c. Impetus (of a heavy falling body; also of a blow).
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 693 The gynour..swappit out the stane That evin toward the life is gane,..And with gret wecht syne duschit doune. c 1440 Generydes 2163 Ther strokes shuld come with grete wight. |
d. In scientific use: (see
quots.).
| a 1721 J. Keill Maupertius' Diss. (1734) 3 A secret Force, we call Weight or Gravity, attracts, urges or impels Bodies towards the Center of the Earth. 1806 O. Gregory Treat. Mechanics I. 46 It will not be difficult to attach a just and scientific meaning to that which is commonly called weight: it is the effort necessary to prevent a body from falling. 1827 N. Arnott Physics I. 14 Weight, therefore, is merely general attraction acting everywhere. |
e. Prosody. (See
quot.)
| 1898 Sweet A.S. Rdr. Introd. (ed. 7) 86 Stress and quantity together constitute weight. Ibid. 92 This double alliteration is not essential to the metre like that caused by extra weight. |
4. In various phrases (see also sense 1):
a. in (or † of) weight, added to
adjs. such as
heavy,
light,
great, etc.
| c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 4662 Semely dyght..With eglis faire and riche In syght, Off riche gold and mechel of wyght. 1484 Caxton Fables of Alfonce vi, Thow wenest that within my bely shold be a precious stone more of weyght than I am. 1486 Bk. St. Albans d iij, That noon be heuyer then an other bot like of weyght. a 1500 in Arnolde Chron. (1811) 128 The said bales..were myche heuyar in weight than they shulde naturally haue ben. 1910 W. Parker in Encycl. Brit. XI. 352/1 They [opossum skins] are..not only very light in weight and warm, but handsome. |
| fig. 1570 B. Googe Popish Kingd. 13 b, The Dorekeeper instructed than, what things he ought to do Whenas this office great of waight he there doth come vnto. |
† b. of weight (as
adj. phrase): Heavy.
Obs.| 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 1385 (Campsall MS.) For swyfter cours cometh þyng þat is of wighte Whan it descendeth þan don þynges lyghte. c 1384 ― H. Fame 739 Any thinge that hevy be As stoon or lede or thynge of wight. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 5473 Lamprays of weȝt Twa hundreth pond ay a pece. 1599 A. Hume Poems (S.T.S.) Hymn vii. 113 Crosbowes of waight, and Gnosik gainyeis kein. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 47 Materials of weight, as Sauder, where⁓with an unconscionable Plummer can ingrosse his Bill. |
† c. of weight: of full or standard weight.
Sc.| 1500 Halyburton Ledger (1867) 253 [Certain coins] all of vycht. 1524 in Acts Parlt. Scot. (1875) XII. 41/1 Þe gold sall have comone coursse..þe Hary noble of Weiht for xlb..þe scottis demy of wecht xviijb. 1597 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 228/2 Rois nobilis of gold and wecht. |
5. The amount which an article of given price or value ought to weigh. Chiefly
ellipt. in predicative use
= 4 c.
short weight: see
short a. 15.
| a 1400 Eng. Gilds 354 Ȝif þe ferþingloff is in defawte of wyȝte ouer twelf pans, þe bakere is in þe amercy. 1435 in Kingsford Chron. Lond. 73 That no man..shulde putte fforth ne profre no golde..but yff yt helde the weyht. 1530 Palsgr. 770/1, I pray you, go way this angell, and tell me and he be weygt [F. de poyx]. a 1585 in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1914) XXIX. 521 Spanishe gold of best and those [pieces] that be weight. 1623 Fletcher & Rowley Maid in Mill iv. iii, We must be weight in love, no grain too light. 1640 Quarles Enchirid. ii. xlv, If thou finde him weight, make him thine owne. 1691 Locke Consid. Lower. Interest (1692) 149 Your heavy Money, (i.e. that which is weight according to its Denomination, by the Standard of the Mint). 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton vii. (1840) 119 It was near two ounces more than weight in a pound. 1802 M. Edgeworth Pop. Tales, Murad i, I..protested..that I had never furnished the people..with bread that was not weight. c 1850 Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 212 The miller..ordered her to bring the scales, to see if the money he was going to pay was weight. |
† 6. The action of weighing.
Obs. rare.
| a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 63 One of these clerkes dayly, to be at the weyghtes of wax in the chaundrey. |
7. Ponderable matter; that which weighs.
| 1663 Gerbier Counsel 53 What resistance dust can be, when waight is laid upon it. 1755 Chamberlayne Pres. St. Gt. Brit. i. iii. viii. 196 They are suffered to be over⁓charged with Weight laid upon them, that they expire presently. 1859 Tennyson Marr. Geraint 526 Slowly falling as a scale that falls, When weight is added only grain by grain. |
II. An amount determined or determinable by weighing; a definite quantity weighed or capable of being weighed.
8. a. A portion or quantity weighing a definite amount. Often preceded by an expression indicating the amount: in
OE. in the genitive, as
anes pundes,
þreora punda wiht; now in attributive or appositional form, as
one pound weight,
three pounds weight. Often abbreviated
wt.
weight for weight: (see
for prep. 25); also (with hyphens) used
attrib.| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 374 Ᵹenim..of ælcere þisne wyrte xx peneᵹa wiht. a 1300 Cursor M. 21429 If he his mone [= money] moght not gett,..þat ilk weght þat þar was less, He suld yeild of his aun flexs. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1106 The barres were of gold ful fyne..Full heuy gret and no thyng lyght, In eueriche was a besaunt wight. 1387 Trevisa Higden V. 397 Þe monkes..took wiþ hem..a weyȝte of brede for the iorney [L. pondus panis diurni]. c 1430 Chev. Assigne 155 She sente aftur a golde-smyȝte to forge here a cowpe; And..delyuered hym his weyȝtes. 1494 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 314 For iij pund wecht foure vnce..of gold. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 41 You'l aske me why I rather choose to haue A weight of carrion flesh, then to receiue Three thousand Ducats? 1655 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. §99 How to make one pound weight to raise an hundred as high as one pound falleth. 1669 Earl of Sandwich tr. Barba's Art of Metals i. (1674) 12 Lemnian-Earth..is esteemed as rich as Gold, and sold so weight for weight. 1728 E. S[mith] Compleat Housew. (ed. 2) 164 Mix the Pulp and Meat together, and take the weight and half of Sugar. 1794 Vancouver Agric. Cambridge 55 The grass..produced from the water-meadows, is chiefly inferior to that (weight for weight) which grows..upon unwatered ground. 1827 H. Steuart Planter's G. (1828) 150 Close-planting, pruning, and other means are employed to obtain what is considered the greatest possible ‘weight of wood’. 1845 Dodd Brit. Manuf. v. 26 About 112 lbs. weight of biscuits are put into the oven at once. 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Techn. (ed. 2) I. 236 The quantities of heat contained in equal weights of water and air at the same temperature. 1964 W. G. Smith Allergy & Tissue Metabolism vi. 71 In the perfused cat hind limb it is as active as acetyl⁓choline on a weight-for-weight basis. 1968 Times 3 Dec. 10/8 Female rats were given daily doses reckoned to be about eight times as powerful on a weight-for-weight basis as those taken by the tribeswomen. 1974 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 19 Jan. 107/2 Special care needs to be taken over the use of Lanoxin brand [of digitalis], which is now twice as potent on a weight-for-weight basis as formerly. |
| fig. 1382 Wyclif 2 Cor. iv. 17 [The] liȝt thing of oure tribulacioun worchith..the euerelasting weiȝte of glorie in vs. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iii. v. 88 Is she with Posthumus? From whose so many waights of basenesse, cannot A dram of worth be drawne. 1706 Prior Ode to Queen x, Impartial Justice holds Her equal Scales; 'Till stronger Virtue does the Weight incline. 1852 Tennyson Ode Wellington 240 One, upon whose hand and heart and brain Once the weight and fate of Europe hung. |
| transf. 1855 Hopkins Organ II. 493 [In the New Organ] there are several reservoirs producing different weights of wind. |
b. ellipt. A pennyweight of gold.
| 1890 Melbourne Argus 9 Aug. 4/6 Tried a crushing, and didn't get four weights to the ton. |
c. to lose weight: to become thinner or less corpulent;
to put on weight: see
put v.
1 46
f.| 1961 M. Spark Prime of Miss Jean Brodie iv. 114 She had lost weight through her sad passion for Mr. Lloyd. 1970 M. Patten Bedsitter Cookery 89/1 Most sensible people today are anxious to keep a slim figure and a well-planned diet is an essential towards either losing weight or maintaining a good weight. 1982 J. Mann et al. Diabetics' Diet Bk. i. 20 To lose weight you should aim to have only 1,300 calories a day. |
9. its, his, etc. weight in or of gold, silver, etc.: a quantity of gold, silver, etc. of the same weight. Chiefly in hyperbolical statements of value.
| c 1205 Lay. 30835 For nauer neoðer nalde for his æfne wiht of golde þat þe king hit wuste þat [etc.]. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 650 (Cambr. MS.) Ȝe habbeþ iherd of blauncheflur, Hu ihc hire boȝte..For seuesiþe of gold hire wiȝt. 13.. Sir Beues 1725 An hors he hadde of gret pris..; For him a ȝaf seluer wiȝt, Er he þat hors haue miȝt. 14.. Guy Warw. 8122 He wold have yove for the fyndyng [of the sword] The weyght of gold and of other thyng. a 1500 H. Medwall Nature (Brandl) ii. 324 Thou art worth the weyght of gold. 16.. Eger & Grine 1154 in Percy Fol. MS. I. 390 He is worth to her his waight in gold. 1614 J. Saris Voy. Japan etc. (Hakl. Soc.) 204 Muske, worth the wayht in Siluer. 1634 ? S. Rowley Noble Soldier ii. i. D 2, I would not drinke that infernall draught..for the weight of the world in Diamonds. 1672 Petty Pol. Anat. Irel. (1691) 68 Gold has been worth but twelve times its own weight in Silver. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 783 Add to the solution twelve times its weight of distilled water. 1854 Patmore Angel in Ho., Betrothal 130 A Tasso worth its weight in gold. 1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain ii. xxvi, The dear old nurse..whom George Rivers would have paid with her weight in gold, for taking care of his new daughter. |
10. a. The amount that something weighs; the quantity of a portion of matter as measured by the amount of its downward force due to gravitation; the amount of resistance offered by a body to forces tending to raise it.
live weight: see
live a. 7.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1118 Sakkis ful of gold of large weyghte. 1387 Trevisa Higden III. 205 Þanne he took heede þat þe hameres were of dyuers weiȝtes. 1398 ― Barth. De P.R. xvi. v. (Bodl. MS.), Þouȝe it [sc. gold] be in fire it wasteþ nouȝt, bi smokinge and vapoures noþer leseþ his weiȝt [L. nec etiam in pondere minoratur]. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xviii. 84 Marchands sophisticatez peper, when it is alde..and so by cause of þe weight it semes fresch and new. c 1475 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 286 The pore pepyll..be oppressyd..In yevyng theym to myche weythe into the spynnyng. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 276 The weight of an hayre will turne the Scales betweene their Haber-de-pois. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. ii. ii, To a friend in want, hee will not depart with the waight of a soldred groat. 1625 N. Carpenter Geogr. Del. i. iv. (1635) 73 The parts are indowed with an equall waight. 1698 Floyer Asthma (1717) 196 The Morning Weight [of the Asthmatic] was 178 Pound. 1715 tr. Gregory's Astron. (1726) I. 491 The Weights of homogeneous Bodies plac'd near one another. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. 74 The weight of this wool encreased from..August 30, 1756, to Feb. 19, 1757, as 100 to 1031/4. 1827 Faraday Chem. Manip. ii. (1842) 25 Small weights cannot be appreciated in instruments intended for great quantities, because of the strength. 1855 Brewster Newton I. xii. 323 The weight of all bodies is diminished by the centrifugal force, so that the weight of any body is greater at the poles than it is at the equator. 1876 Tait Rec. Adv. Phys. Sci. xiv. (1885) 357 The weight of a pound of matter varies from place to place on the earth's surface. |
| fig. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 276 Mi weyhte of love and mi mesure Hath be mor large..Than evere I tok of love ayein. 1571 Campion Hist. Irel. xiv. (1633) 46 When he was forced to silence with the waight of truth. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie ii. (1595) 128 If men wold but throughly enter into the weight of their estates, and truly consider with them⁓selues what of duty appertaineth to very reputation. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. ii. 9 Heerein I see thou lou'st mee not with the full waight that I loue thee. |
| transf. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1671) 128, I know not the weight of the pension the King will give me. |
b. In phrases stating how much a thing weighs, as
of two pounds weight.
| 1389 Eng. Gilds 30 Also a knaue chyld..beren a candel yat day, ye wygthe of to pound. ? 1449 Paston Lett. Suppl. (1901) 22, ij. tapers of wax of ij. lbs. wyght. 1479 Cely Papers (Camden) 19 And ij salt salers of sylver of the weyth of x unse or xj. 1553 Eden Treat. New Ind. (Arb.) 34 The fleshe therof wayed .xlvij. pound weyght. 1557 Recorde Whetst. R j, A Cube of Brasse of 4 inches square, doth weighe 7 pounde weighte. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iii. iv. 24 'Twill be heauier soone, by the waight of a man. 1758 Payne's Universal Chron. 29 July–5 Aug. 141/2 A Turtle of upwards of 500 lb. wt. |
c. In figurative phrases.
to pull (one's) weight: see
pull v. 15 b;
to throw (chuck, etc.) one's weight about or around: to assert oneself or one's authority,
esp. in an objectionable way; to act officiously.
colloq.| 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 37 The vastnesse of their Empire, falling with his owne weight. 1794 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) II. 395 We have seen such a system fall by its own weight. 1917 A. G. Empey From Fire Step 31 Don't chuck your weight about until you've been up the line and learnt something. 1921 Brit. Weekly 6 Oct. 2/3 There was a general..belief that people round us were not pulling their weight. 1922 C. E. Montague Disenchantment viii. 104 Some typically stupid English General..was clearly throwing his weight about, as they say, without any real understanding of anything. 1926 S. Jameson Three Kingdoms xii. 348 ‘Come to that,’ he said, ‘Isabel has more right than any of you to fling her weight about.’ 1941 J. P. Marquand H. M. Pulham, Esq. i. 10 Bill King..always used to say that Bo-jo was a bastard, a big bastard. Perhaps he meant that Bo-jo sometimes threw his weight around. 1955 E. Hillary High Adventure 163 A big, strong, swanking chap who had thrown his weight about a good deal lower down. 1966 N. Marsh Death at Dolphin (1967) vi. 145 Why hadn't he put his foot down?.. He should have thrown his weight about. 1982 ‘M. Hebden’ Pel & Staghound xv. 176 Madame Rensselaer seemed to enjoy throwing her weight about. |
d. Chem. atomic weight: the relative weight of the atom of any element
= atomic mass s.v. atomic a. 1; similarly
molecular weight, the relative molecular mass of a molecule, equal to the sum of the atomic weights of the constituent atoms.
| 1820, etc. Atomic weight [see atomic a. 1]. 1836–41 Brande Chem. (ed. 5) 236 A compound of 1 atom of hydrogen and 1 atom of chlorine, their respective weights being 1 and 36. 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 256 This would raise the atomic weight to 31·74. 1872 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. XXV. 949 The relative molecular weights of ether, alcohol and water. 1950 Sci. News XV. 88 Blue hæmocyanin... This molecule is the largest of any known substance, having a molecular weight of several millions. 1978 P. W. Atkins Physical Chem. 11 We can determine how many elementary units we have by measuring the mass of the sample..and knowing the relative molecular mass (R.M.M., the ‘molecular weight’). |
e. transf. in
Mechanics. (See
quots.)
| 1810 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 4) XIII. 53/1 When two forces act against each other by the intervention of a machine, the one force is called the power, and the other the weight. 1829 Chapters Phys. Sci. 77 The Inclined Plane..is always inclined obliquely to the weight, or the resistance to be overcome. |
11. a. A heavy mass; usually, something heavy that is lifted or carried; a burden, load. Also
fig.| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. met. v. (1886) 35 Allas what was he þat fyrst dalf vp the gobetes or the weyhtes of gold couered vndyr erthe. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxiii. (Bodl. MS.), A philosophir was preued whi an horrible man is more heuy þanne eny burþon oþir weiȝte [ed. 1495 wytte]. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxxi. 117 Ther he was nye dreynte, for gret weyte of his burdon. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §20 With the weyght therof it pulleth the corne flatte to the erth. 1538 Starkey England i. iii. 78 Not to lyue..as an vnprofytabul weyght and burden of the erth. 1562 Bp. Pilkington Abdias Pref. A a v, The greater weighte that is cast on, the soner it breakes. 1584–7 Greene Carde of Fancie Wks. (Grosart) IV. 75, I found it built..so slenderly, as y⊇ least waight was able to pash it into innumerable peeces. c 1620 Fletcher False One v. iv, My free mind, Like to the Palm-tree walling fruitful Nile, Shall grow up straighter and enlarge it self 'Spight of the envious weight that loads it with. 1642 Docq. Lett. Pat. at Oxf. (1837) 323 New invencions..to raise ponderous weightes with. 1659 Dryden Heroick Stanzas xv, His palms, tho under Weights they did not stand, Still thriv'd. 1698 Floyer Asthma iv. 127 All strait Cloaths, and the weight of Blankets hinder the Extention of the Breath. 1764 [J. Burton] Pres. St. Navig. Thames 39 There will be no Occasion to penn up such a vast Weight of Water pressing on the Weir. 1792 Jrnls. Ho. Comm. XLVII. 363/2 It is an Absurdity..to load the Extremities with more Weight of Metal than the Midships. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles v. xx, Strong are mine arms, and little care A weight so slight as thine to bear. 1852 Malpas Builder's Pocket-bk. 57 The whole weight is thrown upon the beam. 1865 Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1871) 14 The simplest form of work is the raising of a weight. |
| transf. 1746 Francis tr. Hor., Sat. i. x. 12 Let your sense be clear, Nor with a weight of words fatigue the ear. ― Art of Poetry 260 note, The Verses..were so heavy with a Weight of Spondees. |
b. Phr.
to take the weight off (one's feet): to sit down and rest.
Cf. to take a load off (
one's feet)
s.v. load n. 3 h.
colloq.| 1936 ‘J. Tey’ Shilling for Candles ix. 100 Waiters like to take the weight off their feet for a little. 1960 L. Davidson Night of Wenceslas i. 19 We were at the seat now. ‘Like to take the weight off?’ I said. 1965 A. Roudybush Season for Death (1966) xxxii. 190, I stepped into the library..to take the weight off my feet for a minute. 1973 H. Miller Open City xv. 168 Sit down, take the weight off. |
12. spec. a. In horse-racing or riding: The amount (expressed in stones and pounds) which the jockey or rider is required or expected to weigh, or which the mount can without difficulty carry.
catch weights: see
catch- 4.
| 1692 Lond. Gaz. No. 2773/4 None but Gentlemen to ride; The weight 12 Stone. 1740 Act 13 Geo. II, c. 19 §3 Any Horse..carrying less than the Weights herein before directed to be carried. 1771 [P. Parsons] Newmarket I. 108 Who ever heard of a rider's throwing away part of his weight, or tearing his pocket that the shot might run out? 1858 Rules of Racing §38 Each jockey shall be allowed 2 lb above the weight specified for his horse to carry and no more. 1883 ‘Rapier’ Types of Turf 74, I remember how eagerly in a certain stable the weights were expected for last year's Cesarewitch. |
b. Without article.
| 1734 Cheny List Horse-Matches 11 The highest Horse to carry 12 st. and all under his Size to be allow'd Weight for Inches. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 115 He carries weight! he rides a race! 1886 Earl Suffolk Racing 145 Weight for age is the basis of trials with old horses. 1889 Baden-Powell Pigsticking 117 The chief objections to an Arab are..his frequent inability to jump and to carry weight. 1891 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Sydney-side Sax. viii, He was a dark brown horse..up to weight, and good across country. |
| Comb. 1863 M. E. Braddon Aurora Floyd xiii, The bay filly which was to run in a weight-for-age race at the York Spring [meeting]. 1898 Encycl. Sport II. 196/2 Weight-for-age races are of three varieties. |
c. Boxing. A match between boxers of a particular weight.
| 1914 Varsity 24 Feb. 15/1 An experienced boxer..who won this weight last year at Cambridge. Ibid., Selected to do duty in the two weights. |
III. In figurative senses from the above.
13. a. A burden (of responsibility, obligation, suffering, years, etc.).
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. I. 66 Þei [the Jews] shal bere to þe ende of þe worlde the wiȝte of þe olde lawe. c 1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert 90 He held him-self onworþi to þe birden of swech a wyte. 1539 Bible (Great) Num. xi. 11 Seynge that thou puttest y⊇ weyght of all this people vpon me. a 1586 Sidney Ps. v. iv, With heaped weights of their own sinns oppresse These most ungratefull rebells unto thee. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. ii. i. 36 But were we burdned with like waight of paine, As much, or more, we should our selues complaine. 1632 Sanderson Serm. 303 You that groane vnder the waight of Gods displeasure. 1661 F. Howgill in Extr. S.P. rel. Friends ii. (1911) 129 The Imprisonment of Freinds lyes as a weight vppon the Nation. 1675 Dryden Aurengz. i. (1676) 2 The weight of seventy Winters prest him down. 1718 Prior Power 694 Permit me strength, my weight of woe to bear. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 540 For my Part I had a Weight taken off from my Heart. 1738 Wesley Ps. cxlvii. vii, Ye, who bow with Age's Weight. 1811 Byron To Thyrza 43 Oft have I borne the weight of ill, But never bent beneath till now! 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop vi, The child, overpowered by the weight of her sorrows and anxieties..burst into a passion of tears. 1883 S. C. Hall Retrospect I. 397 He was an aged man..and seemed enfeebled by the weight of years. |
b. Burden (of proof), onus.
| 1824 J. Marshall Constit. Opin. (1839) 312 The whole weight of proof..is thrown upon him who would introduce a distinction. |
14. a. The force of an onslaught or encounter in the field; pressure exerted by numbers.
| c 1500 Melusine xix. 106 Wel ye wote that two knyghtes may not susteyne & bere the weight ayenst wel Lxxx. or houndred thousand paynemys. 1643 R. Baker Chron., Hen. III (1653) 127 And so undertaking the main weight of the battell, [he] perished under it. 1697 Dryden æneis ix. 1071 They bear him back; and whom by Might They cannot Conquer, they oppress with Weight. 1734 tr. Rollin's Rom. Hist. (1827) IX. 189 No longer able to support the weight of the enemy, they thought fit to retire. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xi, The tumult..forced asunder, by the weight and press of numbers, the Prince and Douglas. |
b. to feel the weight of: to suffer from (by receiving a heavy blow or undergoing severe pressure). Freq.
fig.| 1553 Respublica 284 He that ones wincheth shall fele the waite of my fiste. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 98 He had felt the waight of her Majesties power. 1681 J. Flavel Meth. Grace xvii. 317 His enemies felt the weight of his prayers, and the church of God reaped the benefits thereof. 1701 Atterbury Serm. (1726) I. 268 They, who lately felt the weight of the English Arms. 1702 De Foe New Test Ch. Eng. Honesty Writ. 1705 II. 306 The Church, who by this time began to feel the Weight of the King's Hand, had been Dispossess'd of Magdalen College in Oxford. 1880 Mrs. Parr Adam & Eve II. 21 I've a made that great lutterputch feel the weight o' me hand. |
† c. to give a weight to: to add force or vigour to.
| 1796 F. Burney Camilla vi. iv. III. 202 To see her thus completely disconcerted, gave a weight to the mischievous malice of Mrs. Arlbery. |
d. Mining. (See
quot.)
| 1892 Labour Commission Gloss., Weight. A weight is the gradual or sudden lowering of the roof of a mine after the coal has been worked on the long-wall system. |
15. a. Importance, moment, claim to consideration;
esp. (
a) in
phr. of weight,
of great (little, etc.) weight.
| (a) 1521 Wolsey in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. I. 179 A smale conceylement..of no regarde, weight, or importance. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 79 b, In matters of weight and difficultie. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 113 What obedience than is due to them in matters of small waight, of small importaunce. 1606 Proc. agst. Late Traitors, Garnet etc. 103 Such new matter as shallbe worth the hearing, as being indeed of waight and moment. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 50 So should we in our journeyes, travailes, attempts of weight,..beseech him that his good hand might appeare. 1697 Dryden æneis vii. 345 Pond'ring future Things of wond'rous Weight. 1729 Law Serious C. xv. (1732) 274 It is certain, that all such bodily actions as affect the soul, are of great weight in Religion. a 1770 Jortin Serm. (1771) II. xix. 377 This is an argument of weight. 1783 Burke Sp. Fox's E. India Bill Wks. 1792 II. 417 The objection is of weight. 1851 Helps Comp. Solit. xi. 214 The night-mares of care and trouble cease to weigh as if they were the only things of weight in the world. |
| (b) 1581 N. Burne Disput. To King a v, As the importance and vecht of the mater requyris. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxv. §4 Ceremonies haue more in waight then in sight. 1614 Ralegh Hist. World iv. vii. §2. 299 Considering better..the weight of the businesse, which he had taken in hand. 1662 Howell New Engl. Gram. 16 In French she [the letter Y] is of that weight that she makes somtimes a whole word of her self. 1708 Swift Sacram. Test Misc. (1711) 328 But there is no great weight in this. 1741 Watts Improv. Mind ii. iv, The weight and force of argument which should influence the mind. 1830 Cunningham Brit. Paint. I. 223 Yet weight must be allowed to the opinion of Northcote. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 513 Weight of moral character was indeed wanting to Edward Seymour. 1861 Buckle Civiliz. (1869) III. v. 324 Having no wealth to give him weight. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. I. viii. 106 The two elections..are the best evidence of the weight of this consideration. |
b. spec. The relative value of an observation. More widely, a multiplying factor associated with each of a series of numerical quantities,
esp. ones that are added together.
| 1825 Phil. Mag. LXV. 167 The arithmetical mean of a set of observations..is the particular case when the weights a, a{p}, a{pp} etc. are all equal, and the sum of the errors is equal to zero. 1838 De Morgan Ess. Probab. 138 The method of finding an average is this: multiply every observation by its weight and divide the sum of the products by the sum of the weights. 1868 J. C. Watson Theoret. Astron. vii. 372 The relative accuracy of two or more observed values of a quantity may be expressed by means of what are called their weights. 1935 Pauling & Wilson Introd. Quantum Mech. iv. 100 The degree of degeneracy (the number of independent wave functions associated with a given energy level) is often called the quantum weight of the level. 1940 G. Crowther Outl. Money iii. 93 For some sorts of index numbers, weighting is essential... Weights that are correct at one time may be incorrect at other times. 1949 Economist 8 Oct. 775/1 If the estimate of the change in productivity had been based on calculations using post-war weights they would have indicated a larger increase in productivity in the United States. 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing ii. 32 The number 491 means 4 × 100 + 9 × 10 + 1. The weights are 100, 10, and 1, respectively. 1983 Personal Computer World Dec. 142/2 When each digit is multiplied by its weight the sum of the products, including the check digit, whose weight is 1, is exactly divisible by 11 in a valid [Standard Book] number. |
16. Persuasive or convincing power (of utterances, arguments, evidence); impressiveness (of matter or speech).
| 1534 Ld. Berners Golden Bk. M. Aurel. Prol. (1535) A iv, It suffiseth to gyue for the weyght the sentence. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apopth. Erasm. Pref. **iiij b, A famous speaker..geueth to the saiynges moche weight and grace also. 1586 A. Day Engl. Secretorie i. (1625) 5 A matter of gravity is to be delivered with waight. 1630 Prynne Anti-Armin. 113 A Sentence of sufficient antiquity and weight to put a period to this Controuersie. 1716 Addison Free-holder No. 19 ¶3 Having nothing of any manner of weight to offer against the principles of their antagonists. 1783 Blair Rhet. xviii. I. 365 Nothing derogates more from the weight and dignity of any composition, than too great attention to ornament. 1829 Southey Lett. (1856) IV. 158 But this detracts not from the weight of your reasoning. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 172 No man spoke with more weight and dignity in council and in parliament. 1866 Mrs. Whitney L. Goldthw. ii, The ‘O father!’ was not without its weight. |
17. Weightiest or heaviest part; greatest stress or severity; preponderance, superior amount (of evidence, authority) on one side or the other of a question.
| 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 621, xv. thousand men, in whom consisted the waight and peyse of the whole enterprise. 1665 R. Brathwait Comment Two Tales 199 Weight of Judgment has ever given Invention Priority before Language. 1722 De Foe Hist. Plague (1754) 8 The Parish of St. Giles's, where still the Weight of the Infection lay. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. x. 168 The weight of evidence is in favour of the latter hypothesis. 1883 Law Rep., 11 Q.B.D. 591 An order..for a new trial on the ground..that the verdict was against the weight of evidence. |
18. In various phrases:
a. to lay weight upon:
† to urge (a person) to do something (
obs.); to attach importance or value to.
| (a) 1600 Holland Livy xlix. 1238 The woman laid great wait upon me to depart out of those quarters. |
| (b) 1708 Swift Sacram. Test Misc. (1711) 336 We are apt to lay some weight upon their Opinion. 1815 Scott Guy M. iv, We lay no weight whatever upon the pretended information thus conveyed. 1863 B. Taylor Quaker Widow xvi, And it was brought upon my mind..That we on dress and outward things perhaps lay too much weight. |
† b. to hold weight with: to vie in greatness with.
Obs.| 1641 J. Shute Sarah & Hagar (1649) 148 For there are but few deliverances temporall, that hold weight with the delivery from the paines of child-birth. |
c. to have weight: to make an impression on, weigh
with (those who judge a matter); to receive favourable consideration; to be recognized as valid or important. Similarly
to carry weight.
| 1638 Sir K. Digby Let. to Ld. G. Digby (1651) 10, I conceive they are to have no more weight with those that have ability to examine them, then [etc.]. 1707 Freind Peterboro's Cond. Sp. 108 The latter opinion had its weight, and prevail'd. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1768) I. 213 If..such narrow motives have so little weight with me. 1771 Junius Lett. lix. 308 The conditions which constitute this right must be taken together. Separately, they have little weight. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 368 If the tenant..were likely to be prejudiced by not being named, this objection would have weight. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1872) I. 31 The visé of a minister carries more weight. |
† d. upon the weight of: on the strength of, by relying on the value of.
Obs.| 1710 Steele Tatler No. 4 Introd., I shall not pretend to raise a Credit to this Work, upon the Weight of my politic News only. |
e. to give (full, due) weight to: to allow (a plea, argument, circumstance) its proper force; to weigh equitably; to treat as valid or important.
| 1885 Manch. Exam. 26 June 5/3 His Holiness has given due weight to the many conflicting aspects of the case. Ibid. 10 July 5/1 It is proper to give full weight to the exculpatory evidence adduced. |
19. Influence or authority (of a person) due to character or ability, position, office, wealth, or the like. Freq. in phrases
of weight,
of (great, etc.) weight; also
to throw, put, one's weight behind something, and
varr.| 1710 Steele Tatler No. 4 ¶7 Those Persons at the Helm are so useful, and in themselves of such Weight. 1747 Frauds & Abuses Coal-Dealers (ed. 3) 5 In all popular Assemblies, it has been found necessary to place some Man of Weight and Dignity in the Chair. 1779 J. Moore View Soc. France (1789) I. iv. 25 Their opinions have considerable weight on the manners and opinions of people of rank. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. III. 253 It could hardly be doubted that they were directed by some leader of great weight. 1885 Manch. Exam. 6 Nov. 5/3 Political economists of weight refused to join the Commission. 1938 ‘G. Orwell’ Homage to Catalonia v. 65 The Communist Party, with Soviet Russia behind it, had thrown its whole weight against revolution. 1951 C. P. Snow Masters xxxiii. 268, I can't do as much as I should like, but I shall throw in my weight wherever I can. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 11 Nov. 1/1 The floodgates opened on the fluoridation of water supplies..when the..Regional Health Authority put their weight behind the scheme. |
IV. A standard of quantity determined by, or employed in, weighing.
20. † a. A standard of weight.
Obs.| a 1000 Laws Edgar iii. viii. in Liebermann 204 Gange an ᵹemet and an ᵹewihte swylce man on Lundenbyriᵹ and on Wintanceastre healde. a 1200 Moral Ode 212 in O.E. Hom. I. 173 Godes wisdom is wel muchel..& nis his milce naut lesse, ac bi þan ilke iwichte. c 1200 Ibid. 384 (Trin. MS.) ibid. II. 231 Þar ne sullen [hi] habben god alle bi one wihte. a 1400 Eng. Gilds 356 Þare þe kynges wyȝte by-lyþ. Ibid. 356 Þe kinges by whas wyȝte hit be y-weye. 1429 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 349/1 It was ordeinid..yat on weiȝte and on mesure be bi al ye Reme, as wel with oute ye Estaple as with ynne. |
b. With addition of a distinguishing word, as in
troy weight,
avoirdupois weight: Any of the various systems (consisting of a series of units in fixed arithmetical relation to each other) used for stating the weight of a quantity of matter.
| a 1500 in Arnolde Chron. (1811) 191 Ther beth iij maner weyghtis, that is to wete, troy weyght, auncell weyghtis, and lyggynge weyght. 1540 Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.) II. 222 Euery person..shuld sell the same by liefull weight called Haberdepoys. 1545 Rates Custom-ho. d v, Fyrst of the wayght of Troye..By thys wayght is bought and solde golde..and iewels. 1656 Blount Glossogr. s.v. Weights, There are two sorts..in use with us; the one called Troy weight..the other Avoir-du-pois. 1713 Berkeley Guardian No. 35 ¶7 Ten Pound Averdupoise Weight of this Philosophical Snuff. 1724 Swift Drapier i. (1730) 15 Twenty Shillings will weigh Six Pounds Butter Weight. 1891 Labour Commission Gloss., Short, statute or imperial weight.—2,240 lbs. to the ton..Long weight.—2,400 lbs. to the ton. |
21. a. A unit or denominaton of ponderable quantity.
| c 1200 Ormin 7812 All þatt mann shollde biggen ut wiþþ fife wehhte [= shekels] off sillferr. a 1300 Cursor M. 28437 Again þe lagh..haf i wysed fals weght and mette. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xvii. (MS. Addit. 27944) Mna is a certeyn wiȝte and valewe. 1623 Cockeram ii, A weight of three graines, Kirat. 1857 J. H. Walsh Dom. Econ. 620 The last mentioned goods may be sold either by the heaped measure, or by the standard weight. 1863 M. E. Braddon Aurora Floyd xxxi, She knew—to the smallest weight employed at Apothecaries' Hall..how much sugar Mr. Bulstrode liked in his tea. |
b. In
pl. and coupled with
measures.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden II. 227 Caym..tornede symple lyuynge [of] men to fyndynge of mesures and of wyȝtes [L. ponderum et mensurarum]. 1596 (title) The Pathway to Knowledge. Conteyning certaine brief Tables of English waights, and Measures. 1656 Blount Glossogr. s.v. Weights, One Phidon an Argive is said to have bin the first finder out of Weights and Measures. 1741–2 Gray Agrip. 41 The power To judge of weights and measures. 1799 Med. Jrnl. I. 199 The operations relative to a general uniformity of weights and measures. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 393 The Weights and Measures Act (5th Geo. IV., c. 74). |
† c. Used in various localities as a name for the customary unit for weighing particular commodities (
e.g. wool, hemp, cheese, potatoes); the quantity denoted differs greatly in different places (see
quots.).
Cf. wey, and
measure n. 5 b.
Obs.| 1490 in Somerset Med. Wills (1901) 291, I have xviii weyghts of wulle besydes the bequestes aforeseyd. a 1500 in Arnolde Chron. (1811) 263 The weyght of Essex chese is..CCC. weyght, fyue score xij. li. for the C. The weyght of Suffolk chese is xij. score and xvi. li. 1592 in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870) I. 381 Ane neif full of ewirrie wecht of voll. 1656 H. Phillips Purch. Pattern (ed. 3) 193 There are some other denominations of these weights in several places, as..Rooves, Weights, Loads. 1687 A. Lovell Thevenot's Trav. i. 98 The Inhabitants make Five thousand Weight of Silk yearly, with the Money whereof they pay their Tribute. 1881 Rimmer Old Country Towns 278 A ‘weight’ for some unexplained cause, was the Boston method of expressing 256 pounds. 1830 Edin. Cycl. VII. 221/2 [In Cork] Potatoes, when retailed in market, are sold by a measure called a weight, generally containing 21 lb. 1856 Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 1127 (Dorsets.), of wool, a weigh or weight is 30 lbs., and ½ lb. or 1 lb. over in some places. Weight (Dorsets.), of hemp, 8 heads of 4 lbs., twisted and tied, making 32 lbs. (Somers.), of hemp, 30 lbs. |
d. A measure of an illegal drug; hence, the drug. Also without article.
slang.| 1971 Frendz 21 May 11/2 Avoid carrying weight late at night. 1972 Listener 23 Mar. 359/3 Your hash dealer is usually a friendly happy freak who's managed..to buy himself a weight and he deals it out to his friends. 1978 S. Wilson Dealer's Move i. 13 Neil was taking colossal risks, there'd be up to thirty weights sitting in the flat at one time. |
22. a. A piece of metal or other substance, weighing a known amount and identical with one of the units or with a multiple or aliquot part of a unit in some recognized scale.
In early instances
false weights is ambiguous, as it may be referred either to this sense or to 24 (pair of scales); probably the writers did not always distinguish, the virtual sense being ‘fraudulent weighing’.
| 1340 Ayenb. 44 Huanne me heþ diuerse wyȝtes..and beggeþ be þe gratteste wyȝtes..and zelleþ by þe leste. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxxi. (1495) 940 Somtyme massy thynges and heuy by the whyche the heuynesse is assayed is callyd a weyght. 1420 E.E. Wills (1882) 46, I ȝeve to þe sam William a beme þat I weye þer-wyth, and ij leuys, also iij{supc} of ledyn wyȝtis. c 1430 Contin. Brut 448 In þat tyme þe gold of þe realme went by weght; And euery man had a payr ballaunce And weghttes in hys sleve for þe gold. 1467 Eng. Gilds 383 That all other wightes w{supt}yn the cite..be ensealed accordynge to the kynges standart. 1474 Caxton Chesse iii. iv, (1883) 107 A man holding in his ryght hand a balance And the weyght in the lifte hand. 1540 Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.) II. 222 Sufficient beames scales and weightes sealid..for true seruing of the byers. 1583 Rates Custom ho. A vj b, Brasse weights called pile weights the c, l. s. 1656 W. Dugard tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Unl. §536 The lightest little waight, giving motion to the Ballance, they call a Grain. 1784 Twamley Dairying 59 Press it with a four pound weight, or..with a lighter weight. 1892 Photogr. Ann. II. p. cxvii, Scales and Weights. |
b. Athletics. A heavy lump of stone, or ball of metal, which is thrown from one hand placed close to the shoulder. Commonly in the
Sc. phr. putting the weight (see
put v.
1 2,
putting vbl. n.1 8). Also
ellipt. as the name of this sport.
| 1865 Field 21 Jan. 34/1 Throwing the hammer, putting the weight. |
23. a. A block or lump of metal or other heavy substance, or a heavy object, used to pull or press down something, to give an impulse to machinery (
e.g. in a clock), to act as a counterpoise, or the like.
Cf. letter-weight,
paper-weight,
sash weight,
jack-weight.
| c 1425 Macro Plays, Cast. Persev. 1943 Þis worthy, wylde werld, I wagge with a wyt [= wyȝt]. 1515 in Archæol. Cant. XXXIII. 17 Payed for mendyng off the waithe off the clock ij d. 1535 Coverdale 2 Kings xxi. 13 Ouer Ierusalem wyll I stretch forth the lyne of Samaria, and the weighte of the house of Achab. 1606 Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 175 Payed for the jacke, the cordes and pullies, xxvs; the weight and cheans, vs. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 66 The dores likewise by waights are made to shut of themselves at the heeles of him that comes in. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 266 A delicate Clock with weights to it. 1774 M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. 48 Let the Weight at the End of the Line be pretty heavy. 1774 Pennsylv. Gaz. 9 Feb. Suppl. 2/3 Sash pullies, weights and lines. 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metals II. 299 A weight being attached to the hook b, the spring..is drawn downwards. 1838 Hawthorne Amer. Note-bks. (1868) I. 216 There was a clock without a case, the weights being visible. |
| fig. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII, 189 By Gods wonderfull prouidence, that..hangeth great Weights vpon small Wyres. 1639 J. Clarke Parœm. 109 Great weights hang on small wyers. 1641 Gauden Love of Truth 22 Love is the weight and motor of the soule. |
† b. to go on weights (see
quot.).
Obs.| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 50/4 The small, thinne, and Hern-fashoned hippes and legges, wherof we commonlye say ‘they goe one Wayghtes’. |
V. A means of weighing.
† 24. pl., less commonly
sing. (A pair of) scales, a balance. Also in figurative context.
Obs.| a 1300 E.E. Psalter lxi. 10 Liyhers sones of men are ai In weghtes [L. in stateris]. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1734 Þy wale rengne is walt in weȝtes to heng, & is funde ful fewe of hit fayth dedes. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 332 If that I mihte finde a sleyhte, To leie al myn astat in weyhte. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxx. (1495) nn iij, In this wyse..the thynge in the whyche a thynge is weyed is callyd a weyghte. 1437 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 508/2 Where ye Kings Weightes and his Beem ben sette. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 763 The world would put her and her kindred in the wight, and say that they had.. broken the amitie and peace. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 220 One of these byrdes with her nest put in a paire of gold weights,..hath waid no more than .ii. Tomini. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. ii. 45 The false he layd In th' other scale; but still it downe did slide, And by no meane could in the weight be stayd. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. i. §3 (1622) 174 That..weigheth the mountaines in a waite. 1629 Z. Boyd Last Battell iv. 499 Dauid in his time put them in the weights together [Ps. lxii. 9]. |
VI. 25. a. attrib., as
weight balk,
weight beam,
weight-charge,
weight-equivalent,
weight-gain,
weight limit,
weight scale,
weight sense,
weight stone,
weight thermometer;
weight-conscious adj.;
weight belt, a belt to which weights are attached, designed to help divers and underwater swimmers stay submerged;
weight-clock, a clock operated by weights;
weight cloth, a cloth carried by a jockey to make up his riding-weight; also
fig.;
weight function Physics, a function that specifies the weight (sense 15 b) of some quantity;
† weight-house, a weigh-house;
weight nail (see
quot.);
weight-plate, a plate on which articles are set to be weighed in a weighing-machine;
weight training, a method of physical training involving the use of weights.
| 1575 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 255, j olde *weight balke with skayles, ij d. |
| 1462 Maldon (Essex) Court Rolls (Bundle 37, No. 4 b), A *weght beme de ferro, precii iiii s. |
| [1943 Diving Man. (U.S. Navy Dept.) x. 150 Next, the weighted belt is fastened on.] 1955 R. & B. Carrier Dive iv. 111 *Weight belts should also provide for interchangeable weights to regulate buoyancy as needed. 1966 ‘L. Holton’ Out of Depths (1967) xii. 115 ‘Here. I'll show you a diver's gear.’.. He held up a weight belt. 1978 A. P. Balder Sport Diving ii. 14 The purpose of the weight belt is to help the diver achieve the weightless state. |
| 1898 Daily News 7 Dec. 2/7 The *weight-charge on packets above 1lb. in weight. |
| 1850 Denison Clock & Watch-m. 110 The great wheel of a *weight-clock rides on the barrel arbor. |
| 1887 Kipling Plain Tales from Hills (1888) 144 You can arrange the race with regard to ‘Shackles’ only. So long as you don't bury him under *weight-cloths, I don't mind. Ibid. 181 Maybe, Fate's weight-cloths are breaking his heart. 1889 Daily News 4 June 3/8 Before..her driver could return to weigh in, his weight cloths were abstracted from the sulky. |
| 1974 Radio Times 28 Feb. 280/2 A nervously *weight-conscious society. |
| 1897 Singer & Berens Some Unrecognized Laws Nat. 107 The volume-equivalent would be too great and the *weight-equivalent too small. |
| 1930 *Weight function [see orthogonalize v.]. 1974 G. Reece tr. Hund's Hist. Quantum Theory ii. 33 He made use of a weight function G(E/v) for the enumeration of states. |
| 1956 Nature 3 Mar. 423/2 (caption) Average *weight-gains of animals fed on lime-treated maize. 1981–2 Deer Farmer (N.Z.) Summer 3/1 (Wapiti) Crosses with reds; the hybrids also produce good velvet and weight-gains. |
| 1714 Fr. Bk. Rates 300 Any of the Duties of the King's *Weight-House. |
| 1961 Engineering 21 July 72/1 The new 1½ litre ‘*weight limit’ formula came into effect..in May. |
| c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 134 *Weight nails are similar to deck nails, but not so fine, have square heads, and are used for fastening cleats, &c. |
| 1887 P. M'Neill Blawearie 169 The colliery engineer was quickly on the ground, [and] the *weight-plate removed. |
| 1849 Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 357 A similar bow was formed on the back of the armature, to which the *weight scale was attached. |
| 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 709 The *weight sense was lost in the hands as well as in the feet. |
| 1469 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 21, I have a counterpais wheith of the *wheight stone that the wooll was weyed with. |
| 1849 R. V. Dixon Heat i. 52 One an air thermometer,..the other a mercurial *weight thermometer. |
| 1955 O. State Weight Training for Athletics i. 17 *Weight training..implies training with light weights..for the purpose of improving one's performance in a particular sport. 1957 Duncan & Bone Oxf. Pocket Bk. Athletic Training (ed. 2) iii. 24 Weight training may now be regarded as an essential part of athletic training. 1976 E. Dunphy Only a Game? v. 147 We have to do weights. I don't believe in weight-training. |
b. Comb., as
weight-bearing (
n. and
adj.),
weight-carrier (
esp. a horse that can carry a heavy rider),
weight-carrying,
weight-lifter,
weight-lifting,
weight-maker,
weight-puller,
weight-putting,
weight-raising,
weight-reducing (
n. and
adj.),
weight-resisting,
weight-thrower,
weight throwing,
† weight-wiser (
= indicator).
| 1954 Martin & Hynes Clin. Endocrinol. (ed. 2) ii. 50 Osteoarthritis of the hips, knees and spine develops from undue strains of excessive *weight-bearing as life advances. 1959 Manch. Guardian 9 July 5/7 We cannot even tell whether the heavy walls of the new buildings are the weight-bearing structures they look to be. 1977 P. A. Ring in Bone & Joint Dis. (Brit. Med. Assoc.) 83 It may be better to strive for union in the relatively young patient, even at the risk of a period of protected weight⁓bearing. |
| 1862 G. A. Lawrence Barren Honour xix. II. 90 Red Lancer is a very model of a fast *weight-carrier. 1893 F. F. Moore I Forbid Banns (1899) 31 It has the build of a weight-carrier, that chair. |
| 1883 Mrs. E. Kennard Right Sort xix, Mounted on a huge *weight-carrying hunter. 1897 Daily News 14 May 3/2 Our baggage animals—to the limit of their weight-carrying capacity. |
| [1884 Nat. Police Gaz. (U.S.) 12 Jan. 13/2 Alonzo Hiwanda, the..champion heavy-weight lifter.] 1897 Ibid. 26 May 3/4 Bothwell, of Glasgow, is well known as a powerful man, besides a *weight lifter. 1955 R. Bannister First Four Minutes 112 The waddling gait and breathlessness of a muscle-bound weight-lifter. 1980 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 14 Sept. 99/2 A weightlifter complained that he did not like showing his tattoos in public. |
| 1896 Daily News 6 Apr. 5/7 The London *Weight-lifting Club. 1902 Daily Chron. 28 Apr. 5/3 A series of weight-lifting competitions. |
| 1647 in W. M. Williams Ann. Founders' Co. (1867) 103 No *Wayght Maker that doth cast Brass Wayghtes and..put them to sale. |
| 1868 H. Woodruff Trotting Horse xxiii. 200 The *weight-pullers..are of medium weight. |
| 1900 A. E. T. Watson Young Sportsman 84 *Weight putting—The weight should weigh 16 lbs., and in England must be of iron. 1948 Sporting Mirror 21 May 14/3 Giles had never done any weight putting when he went to Germany with the army. |
| 1850 Denison Clock & Watch-m. 245 The going part is also reduced..to a mere *weight-raising machine. |
| 1922 Times 7 Oct. 13/5 Grilling is the great essential of the *weight-reducing diet. 1958 F. C. Avis Boxing Ref. Dict., Weight reducing, taking off superfluous weight, often by means of vapour baths, sweating exercises, etc. 1978 N. Marsh Grave Mistake ii. 42 She tried..to get Verity to fix a day when she would come to a weight-reducing luncheon. |
| 1708 Philips Cyder i. 265 Hazel, and *weight-resisting Palm. |
| 1895 Outing XXVI. 461/2 Any one of her five *weight throwers could beat the best man at Cambridge. |
| 1901 J. P. Paret Woman's Bk. Sports 163 *Weight-throwing has four or five variations. 1960 Times 29 Apr. 16/6 The investigation covered swimming, track running, weight-throwing. |
| 1685 Phil. Trans. XV. 1003 We find, by several sorts of Baroscopes (or *weight-wisers) not only that [etc.]. |
Sense 3 e in
Dict. becomes 3
f. Add:
[I.] [3.] e. Typogr. (
a) The heaviness of a fount of type, determined by the thickness of strokes in the individual sorts; (
b) the degree of emphasis or blackness of a typeface.
| 1771 P. Luckombe Hist. & Art of Printing 239 A Fount of Roman Letter, of what Body or Weight soever, is constituted of Lower-case Sorts, Capitals, Double Letters, [etc.]. 1808 C. Stower Printer's Gram. ii. 44 It must have originated from avaricious motives—either to add to the weight of the letter, or to confine the printer exclusively to one foundry. 1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 61 Imperfections, short sorts required to perfect a typefounder's bill for a fount of a certain weight. 1922 D. B. Updike Printing Types I. ii. 19 The earlier form of letter, with slighter differences in contrasting weight of stroke, we now call ‘old style’; the much later form, exhibiting greater contrasts of thick and thin lines, constitutes a ‘modern face’ letter. 1983 E. R. Tufte Visual Display Quantitative Information ix. 185 An effective aesthetic device is the orthogonal intersection of lines of different weights. |
[IV.] [22.] c. pl. Heavy objects (
usu. of circular or rectangular cross-section) designed to be used in lifting and other exercises to improve or demonstrate physical strength, fitness, etc.
Cf. weight training, sense 25 a below.
| 1862 S. Smiles Lives of Engineers III. 25 Lifting heavy weights, throwing the hammer and putting the stone. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 10 Feb. 9/1 He has been a trapezist, a wire-walker, bar-performer, lifter of weights, a contortionist, a leaper, a clown, and bare-backed and pad rider. 1956 Muscle Power Mar. 38/3 Slowly..Julio approached his weights. Training in his own house for 8 months he gained from 116 to 132 pounds. 1969 P. Roth Portnoy's Complaint 53 Heshie kept a set of York weights with which he worked out every afternoon before the opening of the track season. 1986 New Yorker 21 July 51/2 I'm jogging now as well as doing weights. |
▪ II. weight, n.2 Sc. and
north. (
weɪt,
Sc. wɛxt)
Forms: 2
wehit, (
wheit), 4
wyeygt,
whight, 4–5
weght, 8–9
weight, 6–
wecht. (See also
Eng. Dial. Dict.)
[Possibly a special application of prec. 21, orig. denoting a utensil capable of containing a certain weight of grain.] A farm utensil resembling a sieve in form, with a bottom of sheepskin or wood (unperforated), used for winnowing corn, also as a measure.
For
timbre wecht: see
timbre n.1 b.
| 1183 Boldon Bk. (Surtees) 23 Et j. wheit de scatmalt, et j. wehit de farina, et j. wehit de avena. 1354 Finchale Acc. (Surtees) p. xxxvi, iiij wyeygtes. 1360 Ibid. p. lii, ij weghtes. 1371 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 129, iij riddils; j whight. 1483 Cath. Angl. 412/2 A Weght, capisterium. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) II. 181 My bairn has tocher of her awin..A Wecht, a peet-creel and a cradle. c 1780 M. Lonsdale in S. Gilpin Songs & Ballads Cumbld. (1866) 279 Theer was whangs an' shives, thick an' thin, I' weights an' riddles putt'n. 1786 Burns Halloween xxi, Meg fain wad to the Barn gaen, To winn three wechts o' naething. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 283 Wechts or maunds for taking up corn are made either of wood or of skin, attached to a rim of wood... Wechts should be made of [two] different sizes. 1898 J. Colville Sc. Vernacular 12 When snow covered the ground, the barn wecht or close sieve was the favourite [bird] trap. |
Hence
ˈwechtful, the amount contained in a ‘weight’. Also
wecht v. trans., to winnow (corn) with a ‘weight’.
| 1804 W. Tarras Poems 67 She wechts the corn anent the blaw. 1808 Jamieson, Wechtful, as much as a wecht can contain. 1832 Carlyle Remin. (1881) I. 29 Potatoes were little in use then; a ‘wechtful’ was stored up to be eaten perhaps about Halloween. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 273 Another woman, with a smaller wecht, takes up the good grain..and divides the wechtful between the other two women. Ibid. 283. |
▪ III. weight, v. (
weɪt)
[f. weight n.1] † 1. trans. To oppress (the mind); also
pass., to be oppressed in mind or spirit.
Sc. Obs.| 1647 R. Baillie Lett. (1842) III. 3 However this silence sometimes weighted my mind, yet I found it the best and wisest course. 1654 Sir A. Johnston (Ld. Wariston) Diary 10 Apr. (S.H.S.) II. 230 Shoe told me my daughter Elizabeth had found under hir seaknesse a deserted condition and now shoe was weyghted with it. 1728 P. Walker Life Peden (1827) I. 80 When he awak'd, he seem'd more than ordinary weighted, and groan'd heavily, saying, Sad Days for Scotland. |
2. a. To load with a weight; to supply with an additional weight; to make weighty. Also with
down.
| 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. G 3 b, If the Wholes be too soft, that we think it will let the Forks settle when they come to be weighted, we put a Sill under them. 1813 Vancouver Agric. Devon 65 The large masses [of stone] used for weighting the levers of the cider-presses. 1851–4 Tomlinson Cycl. Arts & Manuf. II. 31/1 The boards..are..filled with earth to weight them down. 1885 Manch. Exam. 10 Sept. 5/3 A bough is cut from a tree..weighted with a few heavy stones and then dragged over the soil. |
| fig. 1825 Coleridge Aids Refl. 78 We may see with complacency the Arrows of Satire feathered with Wit, weighted with Sense, and discharged by a strong Arm, fly home to their mark. 1860 Motley Netherl. (1868) I. ii. 46 Intricate nets of diplomatic intrigue,..thoroughly weighted with Mexican gold. |
b. fig. To oppress with weight, to weigh down; chiefly
pass., to be heavily burdened (
by or
with oppressive conditions or circumstances). Also with
down.
| 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. III. xvii. 445 Weighted as he was with faults,..he fought his battle bravely. 1872 Geo. Eliot Middlem. xlvi, It wants to have a House of Commons which is not weighted with nominees of the landed class. 1880 Swinburne Study Shaks. 236 The memory of Mr. Tennyson would be weighted and degraded by the ascription of whole volumes of pilfered and diluted verse. |
c. techn. To add weight to (an inferior commodity) by the admixture or use of an adulterant.
| 1862 C. O'Neill Dict. Calico Printing & Dyeing 19 A sulphate of baryta..is used for ‘weighting;’ that is, for giving weight and apparent body and firmness to inferior goods. 1886 Daily Tel. 24 June (Cassell) Dark arts are in certain quarters practised..in disguising and weighting teas. 1895 Daily News 1 Oct. 6/3 The ingenuity of the foreign dyer was such that he was able to ‘weight’ or adulterate his silk. |
d. Statistics. To multiply the components of (an average) by compensating factors; to treat (the components of any numerical quantity) similarly.
| 1901 A. L. Bowley Elem. Statist. 111 The very important statistical method known as ‘weighting the average’. Ibid., Should we weight the numbers given by the total numbers of inhabitants of the contributing counties, or by their distance from London, or by some quantity derived from these? 1927 C. Spearman Abilities of Man App. p. xviii, We urgently require to know how the single tests should be relatively ‘weighted’ in their combination. 1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth v. 82 The individual data were weighted according to quality, so that a poorly determined result makes a smaller contribution to the mean than a precisely determined value. 1976 Daily Record (Glasgow) 30 Nov., Replies were weighted by age and General Election voting to make sure they were representative of all Record readers. 1977 Whitaker's Almanack 1978 1219 In working out the [cost-of-living] index figure, the price changes are ‘weighted’—that is, given different degrees of importance—in accordance with the pattern of consumption of the average family. |
3. To assign to (a horse) the weight he must carry in a handicap race. (
Cf. weight n.1 12 a.)
| 1846 Darvill Engl. Race Horse (ed. 3) II. 286 Such horse is generally highly weighted, to bring him on a fair equality with the others. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports ii. i. i. §2 Horses are constantly entered and run solely with the view of inducing the handicapper to ‘weight’ them at a low scale. 1883 ‘Rapier’ Types of Turf 73 A very bad colt..was weighted in a manner ludicrously disproportionate to his capacity. |
| fig. 1865 Huxley Lay Serm. ii. (1870) 30 So long as this potential motherhood is her lot, woman will be found to be fearfully weighted in the race of life. 1875 Merivale Gen. Hist. Rome v. 29 The plebeians, however unfairly weighted in the race for riches, could not be always kept in poverty. |
4. a. (In senses of
weigh v.
1)
trans. To ascertain the weight of (goods, etc.) by means of a weighing machine; to weigh.
lit. and
fig. Also
colloq., to feel the weight or heaviness of (something held in the hands).
| 1734 J. Steuart Letter-Bk. (1915) 378 Your meall to be weighted with the common standard weights of Mariebrugh. 1865– [see weighting vbl. n.]. 1898 L. Quiller-Couch Span. Maid xiv. 202 Why, there hasn' a-bin a touch of cold in the air..; an' heavy!—you can a-most weight it in yer hands. |
b. Of a jockey:
to weight out,
weight in, to undergo weighing before or after a race.
= weigh v. 9.
| 1877 Rules of Racing §34 (iii), It is optional for the jockey to weight out or in with his bridle. |
▪ IV. weight obs. form of
wait n., v.
1,
wight.