might
UK [maɪt] · US [mɐɪt] noun, adjective, verb
Also a form of may
Forms mights mighter mightest mite mought mout med
- noun (countable, uncountable) Power, strength, force, or influence held by a person or group.
- noun (uncountable) Physical strength or force. “He pushed with all his might, but still it would not move.”
- noun (uncountable) The ability to do something.
- adjective (obsolete) Mighty; powerful.
- adjective (obsolete) Possible.
- verb Used to indicate a desired past action that was not done. “You might have warned me about the thunderstorm.”
- verb (auxiliary) Used to indicate conditional or possible actions; would perhaps/maybe. “Well, I might go to a party, but I haven't decided yet.”
- verb (auxiliary) Used concessively to admit something before making a more accurate or important statement; although “I might be in a wheelchair, but I still want to be treated as a lady.”
- verb (auxiliary, often archaic) Used in polite requests for permission. “"Might I take the last biscuit? I wonder if I might have a little more coffee too." "Yes you may, help yourself.".”
- verb (auxiliary, UK, meiosis) Used to express certainty. “Yeah, I think we might need something a bit sturdier.”
Synonyms
authority potency disposition craft force potence power strength virtue brawn fortitude pith may could can mightiness
Etymology
From Middle English maught, might, miȝt, myght, from Old English maht, meaht, meht, mieht, miht, mæht (“ability, power; strength; virtue”), from Proto-West Germanic *mahti, from Proto-Germanic *mahtiz (“ability, power; force, strength”), from Proto-Indo-European *(me)mógʰe (“to be able to, to have power”), from *megʰ- (“to be able”), corresponding to Germanic *maganą (“to be able, may”) + *-þiz. Equivalent to may + -th.
Cognate with Scots micht (“might”), Yola mought (“might”), Dutch macht (“might, power”), German Macht (“might, power”), Luxembourgish Muecht (“authority, might, power”), Yiddish מאַכט (makht, “might, power”), Faroese and Icelandic máttur (“might, strength”), Danish magt (“power; force”), Norwegian Bokmål makt (“power”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish makt (“power; force”), mått (“might, power”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (mahts, “ability, might, power”), and further to Irish smacht (“ordinance, regulation, rule; dominion, sway; control, discipline, restraint; fine, penalty”), Greek μάγος (mágos, “magician; sorcerer, wizard”), Lithuanian mėgti (“to like”), Belarusian моц (moc, “might, power”), Bulgarian мощ (mošt, “might, power”), Czech and Polish moc (“might, power”), Macedonian моќ (moḱ, “might, power”), Russian мочь (močʹ, “power, might”) and мощь (moščʹ, “force, strength”), Serbo-Croatian мо̑ћ, mȏć (“power; strength; potency; authority”), Slovene moč (“power; strength”), Ukrainian міч (mič) and міць (micʹ, “might, power”), Armenian մոգ (mog, “magus; fire-worshiper, Zoroastrian; astrologer; diviner, enchanter, sorcerer, wizard”), Persian مغ (moġ, “magus”), Sanskrit मघ (magha, “power, wealth; bounty, gift, reward”). See more at may.
From Old English meahte and mihte, inflections of magan, whence English may.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Force or power of any kind, whether of body or mind; energy or intensity of purpose, feeling, or action; means or resources to effect an object; strength; force; power; ability; capacity.
Etymology [AS. meaht, miht, from the root of magan to be able, E. may; akin to D. magt, OS. maht, G. macht, Icel. mattr, Goth. mahts. May, v.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “might”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details