Meanings
nounwaist (plural waists)
plural waists · alternative obsolete waste · alternative obsolete wast
- The narrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects (e.g., bees, ants and wasps).
- nauticalThat part of the upper deck of a ship between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.
There he stood, very quietly overlooking some sailmakers who were mending a top-sail in the waist.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 18”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC - The middle part of anything.
The waist of a bell widens into the lip.
1 more example
In the dead vast and middle of the night
c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe narrow part of the shoe connecting the heel and the wide part of the sole
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂weks-“to multiply, increase”
- Proto-Germanic*wahstuz“growth, development, stature, build”
- Proto-West Germanic*wahstu
- Old English*wæst
- Middle Englishwast“waist”
- Englishwaist
Inherited from Middle English wast (“waist”), probably from Old English *wæst, *wǣst, *weaxt, *wæhst, from Proto-West Germanic *wahstu, from Proto-Germanic *wahstuz (“growth, development, stature, build”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weks- (“to multiply, increase”). Cognate with Middle English wacste (“growth, increase, might, power”), 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.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἰξύς
- ἰξύς (ixús)part of the body
Arabic خَصْر, وَسَط
- خَصْر (ḵaṣr)part of the body
- وَسَط (wasaṭ)part of the body
Basque gerri
- gerripart of the body
Bulgarian та́лия, корсаж
- та́лия (tálija)part of the body
- корсаж (korsaž)part of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
Catalan cintura
- cinturapart of the body
Chinese Mandarin 腰, 腰部
- 腰 (yāo)part of the body
- 腰部 (yāobù)part of the body
Czech pas
- paspart of the body
Danish talje, liv
- taljepart of the body
- livpart of the body
- midjepart of the body
- taljepart of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
- hvepsetaljenarrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects
Dutch middel
- middelpart of the body
Esperanto talio
- taliopart of the body
Estonian vöökoht, kesktekk
- vöökohtpart of the body
- kesktekkmiddle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft
Finnish vyötärö, vyötärö
- vyötäröpart of the body
- vyötäröpart of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
- vyötärönarrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects
- keskirunkomiddle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft
- keskiosamiddle part of anything
French taille, taille
- taillepart of the body
- taillepart of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
- ceinturepart of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
- taillenarrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects
German Taille, Hüfttuch
- Taillepart of the body
- Hüfttuchpart of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
- Rumpfmiddle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft
- Schiffsrumpfmiddle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft
- Mittelteilmiddle part of anything
- Mittemiddle part of anything
Greek μέση
- μέση (mési)part of the body
Hawaiian pūhaka, pākana
- pūhakapart of the body
- pākanapart of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
Hebrew מֹתֶן, מָתְנֵי הָאֳנִיָּה
- מֹתֶן (moten)part of the body
- מָתְנֵי הָאֳנִיָּה (motney haoniya)nautical: upper deck of a ship between the quarterdeck and the forecastle
Hindi कमर, कटि
- कमर (kamar)part of the body
- कटि (kaṭi)part of the body
Hungarian derék, törzs
- derékpart of the body
- törzsmiddle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft
Icelandic mitti, mitti
- mittipart of the body
- mittipart of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
Indonesian pinggang
- pinggangpart of the body
Italian vita, cintura
- vitapart of the body
- cinturapart of the body
- cintolapart of the body
Japanese 胴のくびれ, 腰部
- 胴のくびれ (dō no kubire)part of the body
- 腰部 (yōbu)part of the body
- 胴回り (dōmawari)part of the body
Korean 허리
- 허리 (heori)part of the body
Latin media pars corporis, medium corpus
- media pars corporispart of the body
- medium corpuspart of the body
Latvian viduklis, jostasvieta
- viduklispart of the body
- jostasvietapart of the body
Lithuanian juosmuo
- juosmuopart of the body
Malay pinggang
- pinggangpart of the body
Norwegian Bokmål midje, liv
- midjepart of the body
- livpart of the body
- taljepart of the body
- beltestedpart of the body
- livpart of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
- vepsetaljenarrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects
Persian کمر
- کمر (kamar)part of the body
Polish talia, pas
- taliapart of the body
- paspart of the body
- paspart of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
Portuguese cintura
- cinturapart of the body
Romanian talie, mijloc
- taliepart of the body
- mijlocpart of the body
Russian та́лия, по́яс
- та́лия (tálija)part of the body
- по́яс (pójas)part of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
- лиф (lif)part of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
- шкафу́т (škafút)middle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft
Scottish Gaelic meadhan, meadhan
- meadhanpart of the body
- meadhanpart of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
Slovak pás
- páspart of the body
Spanish cintura, cinto
- cinturapart of the body
- cintopart of the body
- tallepart of the body
- cinturapart of a piece of clothing that covers the waist
Swahili kiuno
- kiunopart of the body
Swedish midja
- midjapart of the body
Tagalog baywang, bewang
- baywangpart of the body
- bewangpart of the body
Tamil இடுப்பு
- இடுப்பு (iṭuppu)part of the body
Thai เอว, สะเอว
- เอว (eeo)part of the body
- สะเอว (sà-eeo)part of the body
- กะเอว (gà-eeo)part of the body
- บั้นเอวpart of the body
Turkish bel
- belpart of the body
Ukrainian та́лія
- та́лія (tálija)part of the body
Urdu کمر
- کمر (kamar)part of the body
Vietnamese eo, eo lưng
- eopart of the body
- eo lưngpart of the body
Welsh gwasg
- gwasgpart of the body
Yiddish טאַליע
- טאַליע (talye)part of the body
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with waist
basedtastefacedpastepacedspacedhastechasedlacedcasedbracedchastedistastebasteabasedunchastelambasteawastebumbasteimpastepost-hastesmastesnastetwo-faced
All rhymes →Sounds the same
waste (pane–pain merger)
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
waist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waist
MLA
“waist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waist. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “waist,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/waist.
Source: waist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.