Weathered

How to spell weathered

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce weathered

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does weathered mean?

1. adjectiveWorn, faded, or aged through long exposure to wind, rain, or sun.
2. verbCame safely through a difficult or testing period; survived adversity.

Weathered in a sentence

• adjective

  The weathered fence around the garden badly needed repainting.

• verb

  The small firm weathered the recession better than its larger rivals.

• adjective

  His deeply weathered face spoke of decades working outdoors.

• verb

  The crew weathered several fierce storms during the long voyage.

Where does weathered come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows out of the noun 'weather', which comes from the Old English 'weder', meaning the state of the air, the sky, or a storm. That noun has close cousins across the Germanic languages, such as the Dutch 'weder' and German 'Wetter', all tracing back to a root tied to wind and atmosphere. The verb 'to weather' developed the sense of exposing something to wind and rain, and from there came two related ideas: a surface worn down by long exposure, and a ship or person coming safely through a storm. The form 'weathered' is simply that verb plus the regular '-ed' ending, used both as a past tense and as an adjective. The spelling trap is the 'ea' digraph and the silent middle, since the word sounds more like 'wethered' than its written shape suggests; remembering the base noun 'weather' keeps the 'ea' in place.

How the word is built

• weather (from Old English weder: storm, air, sky)
• -ed (past tense / adjectival suffix)