weird: [OE] Originally, weird was a noun, meaning ‘fate, destiny’. Etymologically it denoted ‘that which comes about’: for it was derived from the same base which produced the now obsolete English verb worth ‘come to be, become’ (a relative of German werden ‘become’). It was used adjectivally in Middle English in the sense ‘having power to control fate’ (which is where the weird sisters who confronted Macbeth come in), but the modern sense ‘uncanny’ did not emerge until the early 19th century, inspired by, but taking semantic liberties with, Shakespeare’s use of the word. => verse