# "Heavy" meaning "intense" as in "heavy rain".



## Packard

I veered slightly off-topic in a thread that referenced "heavy rain" and I wrote:

I have never given a thought until now.  I wonder why "weight" is used to describe rainfall, or why "heavy" has come to mean "intense".
Collins lists this usage.







Do other languages use that same "weight concept" to describe rain and snow?  Does anyone know how "heavy" came to mean "intense"?


And here is the original thread in English Only:  There was a heavy rain.


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## Welsh_Sion

Same collocation in *Cymraeg/Welsh*:

*Glaw trwm*
rain heavy
'heavy rain'

*Mae (hi)'n bwrw (glaw)*'n drwm*
is (she)PRED. casting (rain) PRED. SOFT MUTATION heavy

It rains so heavily and often in Cymru/Wales that 'glaw' (rain) is often omitted as it's ... ahem ... understood.

______________

*Eira trwm*
snow heavy
'Heavy snow'

*Mae (hi)'n bwrw eira'n drwm*
is (she)PRED. casting  snow PRED. SOFT MUTATION heavy
'It's snowing heavily'

But, we also have:

*Eira mawr**
snow big
'Heavy snow'

*** This may be snow which is falling _or _has fallen.

Both _eira _ and _glaw_ are masc. so the adj. agrees with it - following the noun, as usual.

French goes in for 'strong rain/snow' - but I'll leave that discussion to native speakers.

Other threads will talk about particular cross-language _idioms_:

"Raining cats and dogs/old ladies and sticks/knives and forks/halberds etc."


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## apmoy70

In Greek the equivalent adjective is *«δυνατή»* [ðinaˈt̠i] (fem.) --> _stronɡ_; feminine because rain is feminine (there's adjective-noun gender agreement in Greek): *«Bροχή»* [vro̞ˈçi] (fem.) --> _rain_ < Koine feminine noun *«βροχή» brŏkʰḗ*, deverbative o-ɡrade of v. *«βρέχω»  brékʰō* --> _to wet, drench, send rain_.
Adj. *«δυνατός, -τή, -τό»*  [ðinaˈt̠o̞s̠] (masc.), [ðinaˈt̠i] (fem.), [ðinaˈt̠o̞] (neut.) --> _stronɡ, miɡhty, powerful_, a deverbative from the deponent v. *«δύναμαι» dúnămai* --> _to be able, can, dare_ (of unknown etymoloɡy; from a possible PIE root *deu̯h₂- _to fit_ with coɡnates the Proto-Germanic *tawjaną > Go. taujan, MEng. tawen, but for Beekes it's unconvincing). From δύναμαι also *«δύναμις» dúnămis* (fem.) --> _power, miɡht, strenɡth_, whence the Enɡ. _dynamic_.
For snow, we use *«πυκνό»* [piˈkno̞] (neut.) if it modifies the neuter noun *«χιόνι»* [ˈço̞ni] --> _snow_, or the feminine *«πυκνή»* [piˈkni] (fem.) if it modifies *«χιονόπτωση»* [ço̞ˈno̞pt̠o̞s̠i] (fem.) --> _snowfall_; adj. *«πυκνός, -νή, -νό»* [piˈkno̞s̠] (masc.), [piˈkni] (fem.), [piˈkno̞] (neut.) --> _thick, dense, compact_ < Classical adj. *«πυκνός» pŭknós* --> _thick, dense, solid, compact, numerous, strong, brave, clever_ (of unknown etymoloɡy, could be IE, could be of substrate oriɡin).


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## Dymn

*Catalan*: _ha plogut fort tot el dia_ (strong)


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## Penyafort

In *Spanish*, a typical adjective for rain is _*recio/a *_(una lluvia _recia_), which has to do with sturdiness, strength and harshness, rather than weight.


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## Packard

So I wonder where the “weight” idea came from.  (I also wonder why I never wondered why about this.)


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## ThomasK

Excellent observation. Also in Dutch: we can have "zware buien", heavy showers, "zware regenval", heavy rainfall...

This reminds me of "weighty" as a synonym of "importance", as in:  _weighty measures, weighty issues,_ etc. They weigh down on us, cause trouble, discomfort, etc.

Just by the way: we can have _hevige regen_, which I'd translate as "fierce, heavy". They are related etymologically.


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## alfaalfa

Ciao,
in *Italian*, about the weight, we have:
_pioggia leggera_> light rain;
_neve pesante_> heavy snow but not realated with the intensity. Due to temperature above zero, it's the snow rich in moisture with a high specific weight.

Also on the intensity:
_pesanti piogge/nevicate_> heavy rainfalls/snowfalls. Always plural.


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## JeanDeSponde

Packard said:


> So I wonder where the “weight” idea came from.  (I also wonder why I never wondered why about this.)


_Heavy_ comes from the indo-European root _kap-_, loosely meaning _to grasp._
Hence "heavy" from Old English _hefig_, heavy, from Germanic _*hafigaz_, "containing something" having weight.
Or "haven" from Old English _hæfen_, a haven, from Germanic _*hafnō-_, perhaps "place that holds ships."
Or "Hawk".

A heavy rain has a great density - grasps a lot of matter.
Well - not in France BTW... Our rain can be dense, but not heavy...


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## Packard

Thanks for the explanation.  It gives the origin of "heavy" but not why we use "weight" to describe something that gets us wet and does not necessarily weigh us down.


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## Awwal12

Curiously, in Russian лёгкий (lyógkiy "light"= "of little weight") is used in the meaning "slight", "of low extent or intensity" indeed, but its antonym тяжёлый (tyazhólyi "heavy") is almost never used in the meaning "intense".

Speaking of similar asymmetry, сильный (síl'nyi "strong") is frequently used in the meaning "intense" (e.g. сильный снегопад - intense snowing, lit. "strong snowfall"); however, its antonym слабый (slábyi "weak") is pretty rarely used in the meaning "of low intensity".


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## apmoy70

Awwal12 said:


> Curiously, in Russian лёгкий (lyógkiy "light"= "of little weight") is used in the meaning "slight", "of low extent or intensity" indeed, but its antonym тяжёлый (tyazhólyi "heavy") is almost never used in the meaning "intense".
> 
> Speaking of similar asymmetry, сильный (síl'nyi "strong") is frequently used in the meaning "intense" (e.g. сильный снегопад - intense snowing, lit. "strong snowfall"); however, its antonym слабый (slábyi "weak") is pretty rarely used in the meaning "of low intensity".


In Greek the antonym for *«δυνατή βροχή»* [ðinaˈt̠ivro̞ˈçi] (both fem.) --> _stronɡ (heavy) rain_, is *«ψιλόβροχο»* [p͡s̠iˈlo̞vro̞xo̞] (neut.) --> _thin rain_; adj. *«ψιλός, -λή, -λό»* [p͡s̠iˈlo̞s̠] (masc.), [p͡s̠iˈli] (fem.), [p͡s̠iˈlo̞] (neut.) --> _thin, fine, frail, shrill_ < Classical adj. *«ψῑλός, -λή, -λό»** psīlós* (masc.), *psīlḗ* (fem.), *psīlón* (neut.) (of unknown etymoloɡy, could be Pre-Greek).


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## Armas

Finnish doesn't use heavy but most commonly:
*kova* primarily means 'hard' (opp. soft), but is used in many different ways (e.g. kova vauhti "high speed", kova ääni "loud voice")
*rankka*, "harsh", "hard" (difficult to endure)
The opposites are:
*heikko* "weak", and *kevyt* "light" (of little weight)


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## Abaye

Hebrew: heavy = intense exists for thousands of years and until today, for example biblical "heavy hunger", including "heavy rain".


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## Welsh_Sion

Abaye said:


> Hebrew: heavy = intense exists for thousands of years, for example biblical "heavy hunger".


Do you say that 'manna rained down heavily on the Israelites in the desert' in the biblical account of this episode?


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## JeanDeSponde

Packard said:


> ...why we use "weight" to describe something that gets us wet and does not necessarily weigh us down.


This was before Newton, Packard. Density, weight, mass or content were in a haze then.
Yet it's interesting - a heavy rain doesn't _weigh us down_: it is heavy because it's dense. It grasps a lot of (water) matter.
Heavy snow weighs you down - not heavy rain.


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## Welsh_Sion

JeanDeSponde said:


> This was before Newton. Density, weight, mass and content were in a haze then...


You mean people didn't appreciate the gravity of the situation ... ?


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## JeanDeSponde

Welsh_Sion said:


> You mean people didn't appreciate the gravity of the situation ... ?


Weight - you don't thrust me...?


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## Welsh_Sion

Weight - you don't thrust me...?
- _Force_ment. _Mais, un petit poids._

(I know - cod French. But, still ...)


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## JeanDeSponde

Welsh_Sion said:


> (I know - cod French. But, still ...)


Weight for my cod Cymru witty retort.
Say - ten years, OK...?


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## gato radioso

Not in Spanish.
Here, rain might be _*fuerte *_or *intensa *or *torrencial*, but never _pesada._
I guess that in literature or any specific contexts there must be more words, but in a more normal context, we make do with only a couple or three adjectives for intense rain, as well as the verb _diluviar._ Apparently, we've run out of adjectives soon.


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## Red Arrow

ThomasK said:


> Excellent observation. Also in Dutch: we can have "zware buien", heavy showers, "zware regenval", heavy rainfall...
> 
> This reminds me of "weighty" as a synonym of "importance", as in:  _weighty measures, weighty issues,_ etc. They weigh down on us, cause trouble, discomfort, etc.
> 
> Just by the way: we can have _hevige regen_, which I'd translate as "fierce, heavy". They are related etymologically.


Hevig never means heavy, as far as I know. I would translate it as intense.


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