O.E. cwic "living, alive," from P.Gmc. *kwikwaz (cf. O.Fris. quik, O.N. kvikr "living, alive," O.H.G. quec "lively," Ger. keck "bold"), from PIE base *gwiwo- "to live" (see bio-). Sense of "lively, swift" developed by c.1300, on notion of "full of life."

"NE swift or the now more common fast may apply to rapid motion of any duration, while in quick (in accordance with its original sense of 'live, lively') there is a notion of 'sudden' or 'soon over.' We speak of a fast horse or runner in a race, a quick starter but not a quick horse. A somewhat similar feeling may distinguish NHG schnell and rasch or it may be more a matter of local preference." [Buck]

Quickie "sex act done hastily" is from 1940. Quicklime (c.1400) is loan-translation of L. calx viva.

–noun

1.	the amount or quantity of heaviness or mass; amount a thing weighs.

2.	Physics. the force that gravitation exerts upon a body, equal to the mass of the body times the local acceleration of gravity: commonly taken, in a region of constant gravitational acceleration, as a measure of mass.

3.	a system of units for expressing heaviness or mass: avoirdupois weight.

4.	a unit of heaviness or mass: The pound cfc is a common weight in English-speaking countries.

5.	a body of determinate mass, as of metal, for using on a balance or scale in weighing objects, substances, etc.

6.	a specific quantity of a substance that is determined by weighing or that weighs a fixed amount: a half-ounce weight of gold dust.

7.	any heavy load, mass, or object: Put down that weight and rest your arms.

8.	an object used or useful solely because of its heaviness: the weights of a clock.

9.	a mental or moral burden, as of care, sorrow, or responsibility: Knowing you are safe takes a weight off my mind.

10.	importance, moment, consequence, or effective influence: an opinion of great weight.

11.	Statistics. a measure of the relative importance of an item in a statistical population.

12.	(of clothing, textiles, etc.) a. relative heaviness or thickness as related to warmth or to seasonal use (often used in combination): a winter-weight jacket. b. relative heaviness or thickness as related to use: a bolt of coat-weight woolen cloth.

13.	Printing. (of type) the degree of blackness or boldness.

14.	(esp. in boxing) a division or class to which a contestant belongs according to how much he weighs: two brothers who fight professionally in the same weight.

15.	the total amount the jockey, saddle, and leads must weigh on a racehorse during a race, according to the conditions of the race: Jacinto has a weight of 122 pounds in the seventh race.

16.	the stress or accent value given a sound, syllable, or word.

–verb (used with object)

17.	to add weight to; load with additional weight: to weight sacks before dumping them overboard.

18.	to load (fabrics, threads, etc.) with mineral or other matter to increase the weight or bulk.

19.	to burden with or as if with weight (often fol. by down): Financial worries have weighted that family down for years.

20.	Statistics. to give a statistical weight to.

21.	to bias or slant toward a particular goal or direction; manipulate: The teacher weighted the test so students who had read both books would make the highest marks.

22.	to assign (a racehorse) a specific weight to carry in a race: The handicapper weighted Dapper Dan with 128 pounds.

—Idioms

23.	by weight, according to measurement of heaviness or mass: Rates are determined by weight.

24.	carry weight, to have importance or significance; influence: Her opinion is certain to carry weight.

25.	pull one's weight, to contribute one's rightful share of work to a project or job: We will finish in time if we each pull our weight. Also, pull one's own weight.

26.	throw one's weight around or about, to use one's power and influence, esp. beyond the bounds of propriety, to secure some personal gain.

–noun

1.	detriment, disadvantage, or deprivation from failure to keep, have, or get: to bear the loss of a robbery.

2.	something that is lost: The painting was the greatest loss from the robbery.

3.	an amount or number lost: The loss of life increased each day.

4.	the state of being deprived of or of being without something that one has had: the loss of old friends.

5.	death, or the fact of being dead: to mourn the loss of a grandparent.

6.	the accidental or inadvertent losing of something dropped, misplaced, stolen, etc.: to discover the loss of a document.

7.	a losing by defeat; failure to win: the loss of a bet.

8.	failure to make good use of something, as time; waste.

9.	failure to preserve or maintain: loss of engine speed at high altitudes.

10.	destruction or ruin: the loss of a ship by fire.

11.	a thing or a number of related things that are lost or destroyed to some extent: Most buildings in the burned district were a total loss.

12.	Military. a. the losing of soldiers by death, capture, etc. b. Often, losses. the number of soldiers so lost.

13.	Insurance. occurrence of an event, as death or damage of property, for which the insurer makes indemnity under the terms of a policy.

14.	Electricity. a measure of the power lost in a system, as by conversion to heat, expressed as a relation between power input and power output, as the ratio of or difference between the two quantities.

—Idiom

15.	at a loss, a. at less than cost; at a financial loss. b. in a state of bewilderment or uncertainty; puzzled; perplexed: We are completely at a loss for an answer to the problem.

–noun

1.	food and drink considered in terms of its qualities, composition, and its effects on health: Milk is a wholesome article of diet.

2.	a particular selection of food, esp. as designed or prescribed to improve a person's physical condition or to prevent or treat a disease: a diet low in sugar.

3.	such a selection or a limitation on the amount a person eats for reducing weight: No pie for me, I'm on a diet.

4.	the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group: The native diet consists of fish and fruit.

5.	food or feed habitually eaten or provided: The rabbits were fed a diet of carrots and lettuce.

6.	anything that is habitually provided or partaken of: Television has given us a steady diet of game shows and soap operas.

–verb (used with object)

7.	to regulate the food of, esp. in order to improve the physical condition.

8.

to feed.

–verb (used without object)

9.	to select or limit the food one eats to improve one's physical condition or to lose weight: I've dieted all month and lost only one pound.

10.	to eat or feed according to the requirements of a diet.

–adjective

11.	suitable for consumption with a weight-reduction diet; dietetic: diet soft drinks.