Tuesday, April 9, 2013

A to Z Challenge 2013: H - Heft

Heft

heft [heft] v. - lift or carry (something heavy) n. - the weight of someone or something

Synonyms: verb: raise, lift, heave, weigh noun: weight, heaviness, ponderosity, burden

Etymology: verb: "to lift," 1660s, from heft (n.). Related: Hefted; hefting. noun: mid-15c., "weight, heaviness, quality of weight," from heave on analogy of thieve/theft, weave/weft, etc.; also influenced by heft, obsolete past participle of heave.

I find it utterly fascinating that the noun is older than the verb. Isn't that interesting?

22 comments:

Dani said...

Such a simple. I wonder why it's not used more? Hmmm...
Dani @ Entertaining Interests
#warriorminion

Old Kitty said...

Weft!?!? There's a weft!?!?

Hooorah! Take care
x

Unknown said...

I love the word heft - it sounds rugged and so manly ;)

Rick Daley said...

The is interesting. Words evolve, sometimes for the better, and sometimes not so much.

Karen Baldwin said...

The noun older than the verb? Details, details! Yes, you would notice that detail.

Unknown said...

Finally a word I've heard of! But not the noun form of it, though. Very interesting...

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Quality of weight - interesting!

Elise Fallson said...

This one reminds me of the old Hefty CinchSak commercials.

farawayeyes said...

Not quite able to come up with a good sentence using 'heft' as a noun.

Steve MC said...

That's heavy, dude.

Elizabeth Seckman said...

I see Playboy bunnies. Post spring break. I need more sleep!

cleemckenzie said...

We name things before we give them actions: human brain thing. Ma Ma, Da Da. Verbing comes later.

mshatch said...

Hence the Hefty bag.

Mary Aalgaard said...

And, heft or heave are fun to say, a certain humorous ring to them.

Play off the Page

MickeyBurns said...

It's such a simple word, I honestly wonder why we don't use it more often.

Dawn Ius said...

I know this word! I know this word! But, I didn't know the noun was older than the verb. Cool :-)

Michelle Wallace said...

Heave Ho... reminds me of boats, as in rowing/sailing
Heave Ho away we go...
Writer In Transit

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

I bought some Hefty trash bags last night.

Hefty Hefty Hefty

Lyre said...

Yes, you would think the verb would predate the noun, hm?

Today was another fun twist, surprising me from what I had expected when I saw the word. :-)

Lyre at Lyre's Musings #atozchallenge

farawayeyes said...

I am probably the last to see this because my mail LITERALLY come by a very slow boat from the US, BUT guess who is listed as one of the '101 Best Websites for Writers'? Way to go Good Sir!

Kristen said...

Great choice, mainly because the etymology of this word is great. Thanks!

From A to Z, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

Susan Kane said...

I am definitely carrying around more heft than I'd like.