different between sweigh vs weigh

Middle English

Noun

sweigh

1. sway

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Chaucer to this entry?)

English

Alternative forms

• waye, weye (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English weghen, we?en, from Old English wegan, from Proto-Germanic *wegan? (“to move, carry, weigh”), from Proto-Indo-European *wé??eti, from *we??- (“to bring, transport”). Cognate with Scots wey or weich, Dutch wegen, German wiegen, wägen, Danish veje, Norwegian Bokmål veie, Norwegian Nynorsk vega. Doublet of wedge, wagon, way, and vector.

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?, IPA^(key): /we?/
• Rhymes: -e?
• Homophones: way, wey, whey (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Verb

weigh (third-person singular simple present weighs, present participle weighing, simple past and past participle weighed)

1. (transitive) To determine the weight of an object.
2. (transitive) Often with "out", to measure a certain amount of something by its weight, e.g. for sale.

3. (transitive, figuratively) To determine the intrinsic value or merit of an object, to evaluate.
4. (intransitive, figuratively, obsolete) To judge; to estimate.
5. (transitive) To consider a subject. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
6. (transitive) To have a certain weight.

7. (intransitive) To have weight; to be heavy; to press down.
   • They only weigh the heavier.

8. (intransitive) To be considered as important; to have weight in the intellectual balance.
9. (transitive, nautical) To raise an anchor free of the seabed.
10. (intransitive, nautical) To weigh anchor.
11. To bear up; to raise; to lift into the air; to swing up.
12. (obsolete) To consider as worthy of notice; to regard.

Usage notes

• In commercial and everyday use, the term "weight" is usually used to mean mass, and the verb "to weigh" means "to determine the mass of" or "to have a mass of".

Derived terms

Related terms

• weight

Translations