weird

From Middle English werde, wierde, wirde, wyrede, wurde, from Old English wyrd (“fate”), from Proto-West Germanic *wurdi, from Proto-Germanic *wurdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with Icelandic urður (“fate”). Related to Old English weorþan (“to become”); more at worth (verb).

Doublet of wyrd, a reborrowing of the original sense and spelling.

Obsolete by the 16th century in standard English. Its reintroduction is due to Shakespeare, who borrowed Middle Scots weird sisters, denoting the Fates of classical mythology, for the witches in his play Macbeth. Though originally a noun in this context, it was subsequently reinterpreted as an adjective meaning “supernatural” or “uncanny”. The sense “strange” is a development of this.