English Online Dictionary. What means weak? What does weak mean?
English
Alternative forms
- weake (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English weyk, wayk, weik, waik, from Old Norse veikr (“weak”), from Proto-Germanic *waikwaz (“weak, yielded, pliant, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to bend, wind”).
Cognate with Old English wāc (“weak, bendsome”), Saterland Frisian wook (“soft, gentle, tender”), West Frisian weak (“soft”), Dutch week (“soft, weak”), German weich (“weak, soft”), Norwegian veik (“weak”), Swedish vek (“weak, pliant”), Icelandic veikur (“bendsome, weak”). Related to Old English wīcan (“to yield”). Doublet of week and wick.
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “The irregular pattern PIE *k > Proto-Germanic *k is left unexplained”)
Pronunciation
- enPR: wēk, IPA(key): /wiːk/
- Rhymes: -iːk
- Homophone: week
Adjective
weak (comparative weaker, superlative weakest)
- Lacking in force (usually strength) or ability.
- Unable to sustain a great weight, pressure, or strain.
- Unable to withstand temptation, urgency, persuasion, etc.; easily impressed, moved, or overcome; accessible; vulnerable.
- (often with for) Having a strong, irrepressible emotional love for someone or (less often) something; sentimentally affected by such love.
- Dilute, lacking in taste or potency.
- (grammar) Displaying a particular kind of inflection, including:
- (Germanic languages, of verbs) Regular in inflection, lacking vowel changes and having a past tense with -d- or -t-.
- (Germanic languages, of nouns) Showing less distinct grammatical endings.
- (Germanic languages, of adjectives) Definite in meaning, often used with a definite article or similar word.
- (chemistry) That does not ionize completely into anions and cations in a solution.
- (physics) One of the four fundamental forces associated with nuclear decay.
- (slang) Bad or uncool.
- (mathematics, logic) Having a narrow range of logical consequences; narrowly applicable. (Often contrasted with a strong statement which implies it.)
- Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or firmness; unwise; hence, foolish.
- Not having power to convince; not supported by force of reason or truth; unsustained.
- Lacking in vigour or expression.
- Not prevalent or effective, or not felt to be prevalent; not potent; feeble.
- (stock exchange) Tending towards lower prices.
- (photography) Lacking contrast.
Synonyms
- (lacking in force or ability): feeble, frail, powerless, vincible, assailable, vulnerable
- (lacking in taste or potency): dilute, watery
- See also Thesaurus:weak
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of "lacking in force or ability"): healthy, powerful, robust, strong, invincible
- (antonym(s) of "lacking in taste or potency"): potent, robust, strong
- (antonym(s) of "chemistry: that does not ionize completely"): strong
Derived terms
Translations
References
Anagrams
- Wake, wake, weka
West Frisian
Etymology
From Old Frisian wāk, from Proto-West Germanic *waikw.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vɪə̯k/
Adjective
weak
- (Clay) soft
Inflection
Alternative forms
- wêk (Wood)
Further reading
- “weak (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011