You’re Using the Word ‘Weird’ All Wrong and Don’t Even Realize It

"Weird" has a long history that is rather, well, weird.

The while the word has been around for centuries, the meaning behind it has shifted throughout time from being a compliment to a descriptor for something deemed unusual or out of he ordinary.

Origin Of 'Weird'

When we use the word "weird" today, it is most commonly an adjective used to describe something strange. That hasn't always been the case.

The word's roots can be traced back to the 900s. That's when Dictionary.com says it was used as a noun instead of a word to describe something.

The website says weird was most commonly written as "werd," "wered" or "wird" before moving to "wyrd" or "weord."

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Its definition at that time had nothing to do with things being odd.

WordOrigins.org traced the history of "weird's" definition and found it most often was used as another word for "fate" or "destiny."

"This sense of fate or destiny remained in use through the Middle English period, but then faded from use except in Scottish and northern English dialects," the website reports.

When The Definition Of 'Weird' Changed

While the definition of "weird" was much different than what we know today, it's original meaning held for a good 1,000 or so years.

WordOrigins.org found the current used of "weird" to describe something as unusual or out of the ordinary only came about in the last 200 or so years.

That's when further studies of Greek mythology changed "weird" from a noun to an adjective.

Sophia Smith Galer is a TikToker and author who runs "In Other Words," a newsletter dedicated to language. One of her more popular TikTok uploads has been an explanation of "weird" evolving into an adjective to describe something odd.

"Our sense of the word where it means 'odd' or 'uncanny' actually comes from Middle English and the 'weird sisters," Smith Galer explains.

The sisters can be found in several mythologies including both Norse and Greek. No matter the mythology, their depictions were usually the same.

"They were depicted as frightening figures which is how our word 'weird' became a little bit weird," Smith Galer says.