Word of the Day

: July 11, 2009

weird

adjective WEERD

What It Means

1 : of, relating to, or caused by witchcraft or the supernatural

2 : of strange or extraordinary character : odd, fantastic

weird in Context

"Again was I suddenly recalled to my immediate surroundings by a repetition of the weird moan from the depths of the cave." (Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Princess of Mars)

Did You Know?

You may know today’s word as a generalized term describing something unusual, but "weird" also has older meanings that are more specific. "Weird" derives from the Old English noun "wyrd," essentially meaning "fate." By the 8th century, the plural "wyrde" had begun to appear in texts as a gloss for "Parcae," the Latin name for the Fates -- three goddesses who spun, measured, and cut the thread of life. In the 15th and16th centuries, Scots authors employed "werd" or "weird" in the phrase "weird sisters" to refer to the Fates. William Shakespeare adopted this usage in Macbeth, in which the "weird sisters" are depicted as three witches. Subsequent adjectival use of "weird" grew out of a reinterpretation of the "weird" used by Shakespeare.