waist
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English waste, wast (“stature, waist”), from Old English wǣst, *wǣxt, from Proto-Germanic *wahstuz (“growth, development, stature, build”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weg-s- (“to multiply, increase”). Cognate with 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.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
waist (plural waists)
- 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 57395299:
- There he stood, very quietly overlooking some sailmakers who were mending a top-sail in the waist.
- (obsolete) The middle part of anything.
- c. 1599–1602, 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 606515358, [Act I, scene ii]:
- In the dead vast and middle of the night
Derived termsEdit
DescendantsEdit
- → Japanese: ウエスト (uesuto)
TranslationsEdit
part of the body
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part of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
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, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Further readingEdit
- Waist in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
- Waist on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
AnagramsEdit
GothicEdit
RomanizationEdit
waist
- Romanization of 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄
ScotsEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
waist (plural waists)