Meanings
weeds1
- pluralplural of weed
- indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of weed
weeds2
- obsoletepluralplural onlyClothes.
Come, let us hence, and put on other weeds;
1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]2 more examples
Nor can the judicious reader be at a greater loss on account of Mrs Bridget Blifil, who, he may be assured, conducted herself through the whole season in which grief is to make its appearance on the outside of the body, with the strictest regard to all the rules of custom and decency, suiting the alterations of her countenance to the several alterations of her habit: for as this changed from weeds to black, from black to grey, from grey to white, so did her countenance change from dismal to sorrowful, from sorrowful to sad, and from sad to serious, till the day came in which she was allowed to return to her former serenity.
1749, Henry Fielding, chapter I, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book IIIWhat sight is this? What company of women Is wending hitherward, in sable weeds Conspicuous?
1886, Aeschylus, Choephori, translated by Anna Swanwick, lines 10–12
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
weeds · noun
- Proto-Germanic*wēdiz“piece of cloth, garment”
- Old Englishwǣd
- Englishweeds
From Old English wǣd, wǣde, from Proto-Germanic *wēdiz (“piece of cloth, garment”).
More words from Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with weeds
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
weeds. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/weeds
“weeds.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/weeds. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “weeds,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/weeds.
Source: weeds on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.