waist
English
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English wast (“waist”), probably from Old English *wæst, *wǣst, *weaxt, *wæhst, from Proto-West Germanic *wahstu, from Proto-Germanic *wahstuz (“growth, development, stature, build”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weg-s- (“to multiply, increase”). Cognate with Middle English wacste (“growth, increase, might, power”), Middle High German wahst (“growth”), Danish vækst (“growth”), Swedish växt (“growth, development, size”), Icelandic vöxtur (“growth”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌷𐍃𐍄𐌿𐍃 (wahstus, “growth”). Related to Old English weaxan (“to grow, increase”). More at wax.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /weɪst/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪst
- Homophone: waste
Noun
waist (plural waists)
- (anatomy) The part of the body between the pelvis and the stomach.
- A part of a piece of clothing that covers the waist.
- The narrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects (e.g., bees, ants and wasps).
- The middle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft.
- (nautical) That part of the upper deck of a ship between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.
- 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 18”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
- There he stood, very quietly overlooking some sailmakers who were mending a top-sail in the waist.
- The middle part of anything.
- The waist of a bell widens into the lip.
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
- In the dead vast and middle of the night
Derived terms
Descendants
- → Japanese: ウエスト (uesuto)
Translations
part of the body
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part of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
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narrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects
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middle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft
nautical: upper deck of a ship between the quarterdeck and the forecastle
middle part of anything
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Further reading
Waist in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
Waist on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Gothic
Middle English
Scots
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English wast (“waist”), probably from Old English *wæst, *wæxt, from Proto-West Germanic *wahstī, form Proto-Germanic *wahstuz.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /west/
- (Doric Scots) IPA(key): /wəist/
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