smite

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: smīt, IPA: /smaɪt/, X-SAMPA: /smaIt/

  Rhymes: -aɪt

Etymology

From Middle English smiten, from Old English smītan (“to daub, smear, smudge; soil, defile, pollute”), from Proto-Germanic *smītaną (“to throw”), from Proto-Indo-European *smeyd- (“to smear, whisk, strike, rub”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian smieta (“to throw, toss”), West Frisian smite (“to throw”), Low German smieten (“to throw, chuck, toss”), Dutch smijten (“to fling, hurl, throw”), Middle Low German besmitten (“to soil, sully”), German schmeißen (“to fling, throw”), Danish smide (“to throw”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌼𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (bismeitan).

Verb

smite (third-person singular simple present smites, present participle smiting, simple past smote or obsolete smit, past participle smitten)

1. (archaic) To hit.
   • 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter IV

     "Right you are!" I cried. "We must believe the other until we prove it false. We can't afford to give up heart now, when we need heart most. The branch was carried down by a river, and we are going to find that river." I smote my open palm with a clenched fist, to emphasize a determination unsupported by hope.

2. To strike down or kill with godly force.
3. To injure with divine power.
4. (figuratively, only in passive) To strike with love or infatuation.

   Bob was smitten with Laura from the first time he saw her.

Translations

to hit

• Finnish: iskeä (fi), lyödä (fi)
• Galician: bater (gl), bourar (gl), golpear (gl), mallar (gl), pegar (gl), percutir (gl), petar (gl), sacudir (gl), zoscar (gl)

• Hungarian: sújt (hu)
• Italian: colpire (it)
• Scottish Gaelic: buail (gd)

Anagrams

• emits, i-stem, items, Metis, Métis, metis, mites, times, Times

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West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian smīta, from Proto-Germanic *smītaną, from Proto-Indo-European *smeyd-. Compare East Frisian smita, English smite, Dutch smijten, German schmeißen, Danish smide.

Verb

smite

1. To throw

Conjugation

Infinitive: smite
	Present tense				Past tense
person	singular		plural		singular		plural
1st	ik	smyt	wy	smite	ik	smiet	wy	smieten
2nd	do/dû	smytst	jimme	smite	do/dû	smietest	jimme	smieten
3rd	hy/sy	smyt	hja	smite	hy/sy	smiet	hja	smieten
	Present participle		Imperative		Auxiliary		Past participle
	smitende (smitendee)		smyt		hawwe		smiten