weight

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”). 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”).

noun

1. The force on an object due to the gravitational attraction between it and the Earth (or whatever astronomical object it is primarily influenced by).
2. An object used to make something heavier.
3. A standardized block of metal used in a balance to measure the mass of another object.
4. (figurative) Importance or influence.
   Another knight came to settle on the island, a man of much weight and position, on whom the Adelantados of all the island relied, and who was made a magistrate. 1907 Alonso de Espinosa, Hakluyt Society & Sir Clements Robert Markham, The Guanches of Tenerife: the holy image of Our Lady of Candelaria, and the Spanish conquest and settlement, Printed for the Hakluyt Society, p116
   "You surely are a man of some weight around here," I said. 1945, Mikia Pezas, The price of liberty, I. Washburn, Inc., page 11
5. (weightlifting) An object, such as a weight plate or barbell, used for strength training.
   He's working out with weights.
6. (lubricants) Viscosity rating.
7. (physics) Mass (atomic weight, molecular weight, etc.) (in restricted circumstances)
8. (physics, proscribed) Synonym of mass (in general circumstances)
9. (measurement) Mass (net weight, troy weight, carat weight, etc.).
10. (statistics) A variable which multiplies a value for ease of statistical manipulation.
11. (topology) The smallest cardinality of a base.
12. (typography) The boldness of a font; the relative thickness of its strokes.
    font weight
13. (visual art) The relative thickness of a drawn rule or painted brushstroke, line weight.
14. (visual art) The illusion of mass.
15. (visual art) The thickness and opacity of paint.
16. (figurative) Pressure; burden.
    the weight of care or business
17. The resistance against which a machine acts, as opposed to the power which moves it.
18. (slang, uncountable) Shipments of (often illegal) drugs.
    He was pushing weight.
19. (slang, countable) One pound of drugs, especially cannabis.
    [I was] doing a weight [1 lb. at that time] a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. 2002, Nicholas Dorn, Karim Murji, Nigel South, Traffickers: Drug Markets and Law Enforcement, page 5
    The ones the CIB should be looking out for, to her mind, were the officers who raided a flat, found a couple of weights of cannabis and stashed half of it before they made the collar. The cannabis would make its way back on to the street […] 2009, Martina Cole, The Ladykiller
20. (criminal slang, dated) Money.
    No matter how much money he makes, he is still a soldier, but he has the weight. 1974, Martin R. Haskell, Lewis Yablonsky, Crime and Delinquency, page 96
21. Weight class

verb

1. (transitive) To add weight to something; to make something heavier.
   1. (transitive, dyeing) To load (fabrics) with barite, etc. to increase the weight.
2. (transitive) To load, burden or oppress someone.
3. (transitive, mathematics) To assign weights to individual statistics.
4. (transitive) To bias something; to slant.
   The U.K. economy is heavily weighted towards the service sector and the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a 10% fall in gross domestic product in the second quarter, according to economists at Jefferies. 2020-03-19, Marcus Ashworth, “Cheap Sterling Has Reasons to Be Cheaper”, in The Washington Post
5. (transitive, horse racing) To handicap a horse with a specified weight.
6. (transitive, sports) To give a certain amount of force to a throw, kick, hit, etc.
   With good peripheral vision he spots his teammate, Ray Evans, lurking in the scoring zone and sweeps a perfectly weighted pass to him. 2008, Tom Valenta, Remember Me, Mrs V?: Caring for My Wife: Her Alzheimer's and Others' Stories, ReadHowYouWant