Advertisement

Origin and history of weft

weft(n.)

"threads which run across the web from side to side," Middle English wefte, from Old English weft, wefta "weft," related to wefan "to weave," from Proto-Germanic *weftaz (see weave (v.)).

Entries linking to weft

weave(v.1)

Middle English weven, from Old English wefan "practice the craft of weaving; form by interlacing yarn," figuratively "devise, contrive, arrange" (class V strong verb; past tense wæf, past participle wefen), from Proto-Germanic *weban (source also of Old Norse vefa, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Dutch weven, Old High German weban, German weben "to weave").

This is reconstructed to be from PIE root *(h)uebh- "to weave;" also "to move quickly" (source also of Sanskrit ubhnati "he laces together," Persian baftan "to weave," Greek hyphē, hyphos "web," Old English webb "web").

The form of the past tense altered in Middle English from wave to wove. The extended sense of "combine into a whole" is from late 14c.; the meaning "go by twisting and turning" is from 1640s. To weave together "make (two things) one by weaving" is from late 14c. Related: Wove; woven; weaving.

woof(n.1)

in weaving, "weft, the thread carried by the shuttle and woven into the warp or foundation," Middle English wof, from Old English owef, from o- "on" + wefan "to weave" (see weave). With unetymological w- by influence of warp (n.) or weft or both.

In early use sometimes also generally, "textile, fabric," and indiscriminately, "thread, yarn." Also in Middle English of the cross-silks in an orb-spinner's web.

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    pick
    early 13c., picken "to peck;" c. 1300, piken "to work with a pick, to dig up," probably representing a fusion of Old English *pician "to prick," (implied by picung "a piercing, pricking," an 8c. gloss on Latin stigmata) with Old Norse pikka "to prick, peck," both from a Germanic
    poplin
    type of corded fabric having a silk warp and a weft of wool heavier than the silk, 1710, from French papeline "cloth of fine...
    cloth
    "woven fabric, pliable stuff made of intertexture of threads or fibers," Old English claþ "a cloth, sail, cloth covering, woven or felted material to wrap around one," hence, also, "garment," from Proto-Germanic *kalithaz (source also of Old Frisian klath "cloth," Middle Dutch cl
    fabric
    late 15c. (Caxton), "a building," a sense now obsolete, from Old French fabrique (14c.), verbal noun from fabriquer (13c.), from Latin fabricare "to make, construct, fashion, build," from fabrica "workshop," also "an art, trade; a skillful production, structure, fabric," from fab
    yarn
    Old English gearn "spun fiber, spun wool," from Proto-Germanic *garnan (source also of Old Norse, Old High German, German garn, Middle Dutch gaern, Dutch garen "yarn"), from PIE root *ghere- "intestine, gut, entrail." The phrase to spin a yarn "to tell a story" is first attested
    material
    mid-14c., "real, ordinary; earthly, drawn from the material world" (contrasted with spiritual, mental, supernatural), a term in scholastic philosophy and theology, from Old French material, materiel (14c.) and directly from Late Latin materialis (adj.) "of or belonging to matter,
    dearth
    c. 1300, derthe "scarcity of food," of other situations of scarcity by mid-14c., abstract noun from root of Old English deore "precious, costly" (see dear) + abstract noun suffix -th (2). A common Germanic formation, though not always with the same sense (Old Saxon diurtha "splen
    thread
    Old English þræd "fine cord, especially when twisted" (related to þrawan "to twist"), from Proto-Germanic *thredu- "twisted yarn" (source also of Old Saxon thrad, Old Frisian thred, Middle Dutch draet, Dutch draad, Old High German drat, German Draht, Old Norse þraðr), literally "
    remember
    mid-14c., remembren, "keep or bear (something or someone) in mind, retain in the memory, preserve unforgotten," from Old French remembrer "remember, recall, bring to mind" (11c.), from Latin rememorari "recall to mind, remember," from re- "again" (see re-) + memorari "be mindful
    jealous
    c. 1200, gelus, later jelus, "possessive and suspicious," originally in the context of sexuality or romance (in any context from late 14c.), from Old French jalos/gelos "keen, zealous; avaricious; jealous" (12c., Modern French jaloux), from Late Latin zelosus, from zelus "zeal,"

    Share weft

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near weft
    Advertisement