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"W" Word Origins

Where do words come from? Trace the origin and history of any English word, from its Latin, Greek or Old English roots through to its modern meaning. Every etymology is sourced.

“W” Word Origins

webhook
English
A compound of web and hook, in the programming sense of a hook as a place where extra behaviour can be attached.
webinar
English
A blend of web and seminar.
webmail
Origin
From web + mail.
WebP
English
From web, the format having been designed by Google for images on the web. No official expansion of the P has been published, so any gloss of it is guesswork.
webside
Origin
See webside manner.
website
Origin
A blend formed in the early days of the internet from "web" (short for World Wide Web) plus "site" (a location).
webster
Old English
From Old English webbestre, the feminine form of webba ("weaver") — the "-ster" ending originally marked a female worker, as in "spinster".
wed
Old English
From Old English weddian ("to pledge, to wed"), from a Germanic root meaning "pledge" — related to "wage" and "engage".
wedding
Old English
From Old English weddung ("betrothal, pledge"), built from wed plus the -ing ending.
wedge
Old English
From Old English weċġ ("wedge"), from a Proto-Germanic root for the same shape of tool.
wedgie
Origin
Formed from wedge plus the informal -ie ending, since the prank literally wedges clothing between the buttocks.
wedlock
Old English
From Old English wedlāc ("marriage vow, pledge") — built from wed plus an old suffix meaning "action" or "practice," seen also in "knowledge".
Wednesday
Latin
From Old English wōdnesdæġ, "day of Woden" — the Anglo-Saxons named the day after their god Woden (Odin), mirroring the Latin "day of Mercury," since Woden was linked to Mercury in old mythology.
wee
Old English
From an Old English word for "weight" or "small amount," which narrowed over time in Scots and Northern English to mean simply "tiny".
weed
Old English · 1900
From Old English wēod ("weed"), of Germanic origin; the marijuana slang sense is a 20th-century extension of the plain "unwanted plant" meaning.
weeds
Origin
Inflected form of weed.
week
Old English
From Old English wiċe/wucu ("week"), from a Germanic root meaning "sequence" or "turn" — ultimately related to a very old word meaning "to bend or yield".
weekday
Old English
From Old English wicdæġ, a compound of week and day.
weekend
Origin · 1800
A compound of week and end, originally a Northern English regional term that spread into general use in the late 19th century.
weekly
Origin
From week plus the adjective/adverb-forming suffix -ly.
Weems
Origin
Variant of Wemyss.
ween
Origin
From Middle English wenen, from Old English wēnan, from Proto-Germanic *wēnijaną. Cognate with Dutch wanen, German wähnen.
weeny
Origin
Likely from a blend of "teeny weeny," or from wee plus the -y ending.
weep
Old English
From Old English wēpan ("to weep, lament"), from a Germanic root meaning "to cry out".
weeper
Origin
From weep + -er.
weeping
Middle English
Inherited from Middle English wepynge.
weepy
Origin
From weep plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.
weet
Middle English
From Middle English weten, an old variant of witen ("to know") — the same root that gives us the modern word "wit."
weevil
Old English
From Old English wifel ("beetle"), from a very old root meaning "to weave," possibly referring to the woven-looking case a weevil larva builds around itself.
weft
Origin
From Middle English wefte, from Old English wefan (“to weave”), from Proto-West Germanic *weban, from Proto-Germanic *webaną. Equivalent to weave + -t (abstract nominal suffix).
Wehrmacht
German
Borrowed directly from German Wehrmacht, literally "defence force".
Wei
Chinese
From Mandarin Chinese 魏 (Wèi).
weigh
Old English
From Old English wegan ("to carry, move, weigh"), from a very old root meaning "to carry or transport" — a distant relative of "vector" and "wagon".
weight
Old English
From Old English wiht/ġewiht ("weight"), ultimately from a root meaning "to move or carry" — related to "weigh".
weightless
Origin
From weight plus the suffix -less ("without").
weightlessness
Origin
From weightless plus the noun-forming suffix -ness.
weightsome
Origin
From weight + -some.
weighty
Middle English
From Middle English weighti, formed from weight plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.
Weimar
German
Borrowed from German Weimar.
Weinberg
German
Borrowed from German Weinberg.
Weinstein
German
Borrowed from German Weinstein or Yiddish ווײַנשטיין (wine stone). The verb is from the behavior of Harvey Weinstein, Hollywood movie mogul and convicted sex offender.
weir
Old English
From Old English wer, related to a verb meaning "to dam up" — the same root that gives us "warranty."
weird
Old English
From Old English wyrd, "fate" or "destiny." The word originally referred to fate itself — Shakespeare's "Weird Sisters" in Macbeth were literally the Sisters of Fate. The modern sense of "strange" grew out of how eerie and otherworldly that idea seemed.
weirdie
Origin
From weird + -ie.
weirdo
Origin · 1950
Formed from "weird" plus the informal suffix "-o," which turns an adjective into a label for a type of person (as in "cheapo" or "wino"). First recorded in American English in the early 1950s.
weirdsome
Origin
From weird + -some.
weirdy
Origin
From weird + -y.
Weiss
German
Borrowed from German Weiß.