waistyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[waist 词源字典]
waist: [14] Waist is something of a mystery word, but it is generally taken to denote etymologically ‘girth to which one has grown’. It is probably descended from an unrecorded Old English *wæst, which would have gone back to prehistoric Germanic *wakhs- ‘grow’, source of English wax ‘grow’ (as in wax and wane). Related forms which support this hypothesis include Icelandic vöxstr and Gothic wahstus, which mean ‘growth, size’.
[waist etymology, waist origin, 英语词源]
waist (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
late 14c., "middle part of the body," also "part of a garment fitted for the waist, portion of a garment that covers the waist" (but, due to fashion styles, often above or below it), probably from Old English *wæst "growth," hence, "where the body grows," from Proto-Germanic *wahs-tu- (cognates: Old English wæstm, Old Norse vöxtr, Swedish växt, Old High German wahst "growth, increase," Gothic wahstus "stature," Old English weaxan "to grow" see wax (v.)), from PIE *wegs-, extended form of root *aug- (1) "to increase" (see augment).