the word 'weathered' originates from the base noun 'weather', which comes from old english 'weder', meaning "air, sky, breeze, storm, or tempest." this old english term is derived from proto-germanic 'wedrą', which in turn finds its ultimate source in the proto-indo-European root 'we-dhro-', meaning "weather" or "wind." the suffix '-ed' is the common english past participle ending, used to form adjectives and perfect verb tenses. thus, 'weathered' literally means "having been affected by the weather," a concept that evolved from describing atmospheric conditions to encompassing the physical changes caused by those conditions and, metaphorically, the process of enduring and surviving them.

the word is a past participle form of the verb 'weather'. it is not productively segmented into smaller, meaningful morphemes in modern english without losing the integrity of the base word 'weather'.