Weight Meaning
/weɪt/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe downwards force an object experiences due to gravity.
nounAn object used to make something heavier.
Sentence Examples
It's too bad that I don't need to lose weight.
The ice will give under your weight.
It is about 76 kilos in weight.
CEFR Practice Quiz
To lift the box, you need to know its ____ because it might be very heavy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The manager was concerned about the ____ of the boxes, as they were almost too heavy to lift safely today.
Word Origin & History
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”). Equivalent to weigh + -t (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Scots wecht, weicht (“weight”), Saterland Frisian Wächte (“scale”), Gewicht (“weight”), West Frisian gewicht (“weight”), Dutch gewicht (“weight”), German Low German Wicht, Gewicht (“weight”), German Wucht (“massiveness, force”), Gewicht (“weight”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
""You surely are a man of some weight around here," I said."
— 1945, Mikia Pezas, The price of liberty, I. Washburn, Inc., page 11:
"If you'd like to use a different weight of yarn, just check the label for the recommended crochet hook size and use that."
— 2011 August 23, Carmen Heffernan, “How to make colourful crocheted flowers”, in The Guardian:
"The weight of the finished thread also varies with the spinner, although the general aim is laceweight singles for weaving."
— 2026, Elise Young, “Yagaa: Reviving Sericulture in Southern Mexico”, in Spin Off, volume L, number 1, page 16:
"The waight of this ſad time we muſt obey[…]"
— c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 309, column 2:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
To lift the box, you need to know its ____ because it might be very heavy.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The manager was concerned about the ____ of the boxes, as they were almost too heavy to lift safely today.