the state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure, etc.
a strong wind or storm or strong winds and storms collectively: We've had some real weather this spring.
a weathercast: The radio announcer will read the weather right after the commercial.
Usually weathers.changes or vicissitudes in one's lot or fortunes: She remained a good friend in all weathers.
verb (used with object)
to expose to the weather; dry, season, or otherwise affect by exposure to the air or atmosphere: to weather lumber before marketing it.
to discolor, disintegrate, or affect injuriously, as by the effects of weather: These crumbling stones have been weathered by the centuries.
to bear up against and come safely through (a storm, danger, trouble, etc.): to weather a severe illness.
Nautical. (of a ship, mariner, etc.) to pass or sail to the windward of: to weather a cape.
Architecture. to cause to slope, so as to shed water.
verb (used without object)
to undergo change, especially discoloration or disintegration, as the result of exposure to atmospheric conditions.
to endure or resist exposure to the weather: a coat that weathers well.
to go or come safely through a storm, danger, trouble, etc. (usually followed by through): It was a difficult time for her, but she weathered through beautifully.
Idioms
under the weather, Informal.
somewhat indisposed; ailing; ill.
suffering from a hangover.
more or less drunk: Many fatal accidents are caused by drivers who are under the weather.
Origin of weather
before 900;Middle English (noun), Old Englishweder; cognate with Dutchweder,GermanWetter,Old Norsevethr
"come through safely," 1650s, from weather (n.). Sense of "wear away by exposure" is from 1757. Related: Weathered; weathering.
weather
n.
Old English weder, from Proto-Germanic *wedran (cf. Old Saxon wedar, Old Norse veðr, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Dutch weder, Old High German wetar, German Wetter "storm, wind, weather"), from PIE *we-dhro-, "weather," from root *we- "to blow" (see wind (n.)). Spelling with -th- first appeared 15c., though pronunciation may be much older.
Weather-beaten is from 1520s. Under the weather "indisposed" is from 1827. Greek had words for "good weather" (aithria, eudia) and words for "storm" and "winter," but no generic word for "weather" until kairos (literally "time") began to be used as such in Byzantine times. Latin tempestas "weather" (see tempest) also originally meant "time;" and words for "time" also came to mean weather in Irish (aimsir), Serbo-Croatian (vrijeme), Polish (czas), etc.
The state of the atmosphere at a particular time and place. Weather is described in terms of variable conditions such as temperature, humidity, wind velocity, precipitation, and barometric pressure. Weather on Earth occurs primarily in the troposphere, or lower atmosphere, and is driven by energy from the Sun and the rotation of the Earth. The average weather conditions of a region over time are used to define a region's climate.
Ailing, ill; also, suffering from a hangover. For example, She said she was under the weather and couldn't make it to the meeting. This expression presumably alludes to the influence of the weather on one's health. [Early 1800s] The same term is sometimes used as a euphemism for being drunk, as in After four drinks, Ellen was a bit under the weather.
