weight
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
6 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "weight", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "weight" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "weight" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
weight is aEnglishnoun. It means: The downwards force an object experiences due to gravity. Pronounced /weɪt/. It ranks #1,036 in English word frequency. Often confused with wight and wright.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | weight |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /weɪt/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #1,036 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for weight is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /weɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,036 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 24 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for weight, with forms such as "ewight", "wegiht", and "weigght". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "wight", "wright", "weights", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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 (abstra… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is weight, spelled W-E-I-G-H-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1The downwards force an object experiences due to gravity.
- 2An object used to make something heavier.
- 3A standardized block of metal used in a balance to measure the mass of another object.
- 4Importance or influence.
- 5An object, such as a weight plate or barbell, used for strength training.
- 6An object, such as a weight plate or barbell, used for strength training.
- 7Viscosity rating.
- 8Mass (atomic weight, molecular weight, etc.) (in restricted circumstances).
- 9Synonym of mass (in general circumstances).
- 10Mass (net weight, troy weight, carat weight, etc.).
- 11A variable which multiplies a value for ease of statistical manipulation.
- 12The smallest cardinality of a base.
- 13The boldness of a font; the relative thickness of its strokes.
- 14The relative thickness of a drawn rule or painted brushstroke, line weight.
- 15The illusion of mass.
- 16The thickness and opacity of paint.
- 17The thickness of yarn.
- 18Pressure; burden.
- 19The resistance against which a machine acts, as opposed to the power which moves it.
- 20Shipments of (often illegal) drugs.
- 21One pound of drugs, especially cannabis.
- 22Money.
- 23Weight class
- 24Emphasis applied to a given criterion.
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”). 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”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ewight,wegiht,weigght,weighht,weightt,weigth,weihgt,wieght,wweight
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for weight
Misspelling Variants of "weight"
Frequency rank: #1,036 in English
Frequently Asked Questions
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter W in our English index: