weird

weird · adjective, noun, verb, adverb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*wert-“to turn, wind”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*wurdiz
3. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*wurdi
4. Old English · derived fromwyrd“fate”
5. Middle English · derived fromwerde
6. English todayweird

From Middle English werde, wierde, wirde, wyrede, wurde, from Old English wyrd (“fate”), from Proto-West Germanic *wurdi, from Proto-Germanic *wurdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with Icelandic urður (“fate”). Related to Old English weorþan (“to become”); more at worth (verb). Doublet of wyrd, a reborrowing of the original sense and spelling. Obsolete by the 16th century in standard English. Its reintroduction is due to Shakespeare, who borrowed Middle Scots weird sisters, denoting the Fates of classical mythology, for the witches in his play Macbeth. Though originally a noun in this context, it was subsequently reinterpreted as an adjective meaning “supernatural” or “uncanny”. The sense “strange” is a development of this.

WEIRD · adjective²

Coined by American evolutionary biologist Joseph Henrich and collaborators in 2010, referring to a bias among respondents and test subjects in psychology studies. Contrived acronym from weird.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 1970s In a strange manner.