wight

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1 1.2.1 Noun 1.2.2 Quotations 1.3 Etymology 2 1.3.1 Adjective 1.4 See also 1.5 References 2 Middle English 2.1 Noun 2.1.1 Quotations

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• enPR: wīt, IPA: /waɪt/, SAMPA: /waIt/
• Rhymes: -aɪt
• Homophones: wite, white (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English, from Old English wiht, akin to Old High German wiht (“‘creature, thing’”)^[1] Cognate with Dutch wicht, German Wicht, and Swedish vätte.

[edit] Noun

wight (plural wights)

1. (archaic) A living creature, especially a human being.
2. (paganism) A being of one of the Nine Worlds of heathen belief, especially a nature spirit, elf or ancestor.
3. (poetic) A ghost or other supernatural entity.

[edit] Quotations

• circa 1602, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act i, sc. 3:

  O base Hungarian wight! wilt thou the spigot wield?

• 1626, John Milton, On the Death of a Fair Infant Dying of a Cough, verse vi

  Oh say me true if thou wert mortal wight
  And why from us so quickly thou didst take thy flight.

• 1789, William Blake, A Dream, lines 14-15-16

  But I saw a glow-worm near,
  Who replied: ‘What wailing wight
  Calls the watchman of the night?

[edit] Etymology 2

From Old Norse vígt, neuter of vígr (“‘skilled in fighting, of age’”), cognate with Old English wīġ^[2].

[edit] Adjective

wight

1. (archaic except in dialects) brave, valorous, strong

[edit] See also

• Isle of Wight

[edit] References

• Notes:

1. ^ Merriam-Webster, 1974.
2. ^ Merriam-Webster, 1974.

• “wight” in the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, 1974 edition.

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[edit] Middle English

[edit] Noun

wight (plural wightes)

1. A wight.

[edit] Quotations

• 1368-1372, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Book of the Duchess, line 579:

  "Worste of alle wightes."

• 1379-1380, Geoffrey Chaucer, The House of Fame, line 1830-1831:

  "We ben shrewes, every wight,

  And han delyt in wikkednes."