might
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L24355 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /maɪt/ / [maɪt] / [mɐɪt]
adj
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. Cognates 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.
- Mighty; powerful.
- Possible.
noun
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. Cognates 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.
- Power, strength, force, or influence held by a person or group.
“[…]ſtrengthed with all myght, thꝛough his gloꝛious power, unto all pacience and long ſufferyng with ioifulneſſe[…]”
“This is the richest, the most powerful country which ever occupied this globe. The might of past empires is little compared to ours. But I do not want to be the president who built empires or sought grandeur or extended dominion. I want to be the president who educated young children to the wonders of their world.”
- Physical strength or force.
“He pushed with all his might, but still it would not move.”
- The ability to do something.
verb
Etymology: From Old English meahte and mihte, inflections of magan, whence English may.
- simple past of may
“He asked me if he might go to the party, but I haven't decided yet.”
“I thought that I might go the next day.”
- simple past of may
“You might have warned me about the thunderstorm.”
- Used to indicate conditional or possible actions; would perhaps/maybe.
“Well, I might go to a party, but I haven't decided yet.”
“The characterism of an honest man: He looks not to what he might do, but what he should.”
- 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.”
“I might play football, but I do know how to read.”
- 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.".”
- Used to express certainty.
“Yeah, I think we might need something a bit sturdier.”