heavy

heavy · adjective, adverb, noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kap-“to take, grasp, hold”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*habīgaz“heavy, hefty, weighty”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*habīg“heavy, hefty, weighty”
4. Old English · inherited fromhefiġ
5. Middle English · inherited fromhevy
6. English todayheavy

From Middle English hevy, heviȝ, from Old English hefiġ, hefeġ, hæfiġ (“heavy; important, grave, severe, serious; oppressive, grievous; slow, dull”), from Proto-West Germanic *habīg (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Germanic *habīgaz (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to take, grasp, hold”). Equivalent to heave + -y. Related to have. Cognate with Scots hevy, havy, heavy (“heavy”), Saterland Frisian heeuwich, häwich (“violent, angry”), West Frisian hevich (“violent”), Dutch hevig (“violent, severe, intense, acute”), German Low German hevig (“violent, fierce, intense, angry”), German hebig (compare heftig (“fierce, severe, intense, violent, heavy”)), Icelandic höfugur (“heavy, weighty, important”). Compare typologically Russian взять (vzjatʹ), объёмный (obʺjómnyj), ёмкий (jómkij, akin to име́ть (imétʹ)), and Latin capāx (“large, wide, roomy, spacious, capacious, capable, apt”).

heavy · adjective²

1. Proto-Indo-European*kap-
2. Proto-Indo-European*kapyéti
3. Proto-Germanic*habjaną
4. Proto-West Germanic*habbjan
5. Old Englishhebban
6. Middle Englishheven
7. Englishheave
8. English todayheavy

From heave + -y.

Words from the same roots