waist
English
Etymology
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.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /weɪst/
- Rhymes: -eɪst
- Homophones: waste
Noun
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, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 18
- There he stood, very quietly overlooking some sailmakers who were mending a top-sail in the waist.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 18
- (obsolete) The middle part of anything.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
Derived terms
Terms derived from waist
Translations
part of the body between the pelvis and the stomach
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a part of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
the narrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects
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the middle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft
- 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
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Further reading
Gothic
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