plight
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English plit (“fold, wrinkle, bad situation”), conflation of Middle English pliht, plight (“risky promise, peril”) (from Old English pliht "danger, risk") and Anglo-Norman plit, plyte (“fold, condition”), from Old French pleit (“condition, manner of folding”) (from Vulgar Latin *plictum, from Latin plicitum (“fold”)).
Noun[edit]
plight (plural plights)
- A dire or unfortunate situation. [from 14th c.]
- 2005, Lesley Brown, translating Plato, Sophist, 243c:
- Though we say we are quite clear about it and understand when someone uses the expression, unlike that other expression, maybe we're in the same plight with regard to them both.
- 2011 December 10, Arindam Rej, “Norwich 4-2 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport:
- Gosling's plight worsened when he was soon shown a red card for a foul on Martin.
- 2020 June 17, Philip Haigh, “Capital for the capital to meet London's transport needs”, in Rail, page 28:
- Despite spending £1 billion of its own resources, that balanced budget became impossible and forced TfL to issue a 'Section 114' notice of impending financial plight and go to the government for support.
- 2005, Lesley Brown, translating Plato, Sophist, 243c:
- (now rare) A (neutral) condition or state. [from 14th c.]
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 8, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:
- although hee live in as good plight and health as may be, yet he chafeth, he scoldeth, he brawleth, he fighteth, he sweareth, and biteth, as the most boistrous and tempestuous master of France […].
- (obsolete) Good health. [14th–19th c.]
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.7:
- All wayes shee sought him to restore to plight,
With herbs, with charms, with counsel, and with teares […].
- All wayes shee sought him to restore to plight,
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.7:
Translations[edit]
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Etymology 2[edit]
From Middle English plight (“risk, danger”), from Old English pliht (“peril, risk, danger, damage, plight”), from Proto-West Germanic *plihti (“care, responsibility, duty”). A suffixed form of the root represented by Old English pleoh (“risk, danger, hurt, peril"; also "responsibility”) and plēon (“to endanger, risk”). Akin to Old English plihtan (“to endanger, compromise”). Cognate with Scots plicht (“responsibility, plight”), Dutch plicht, Low German plicht (“duty”), German Pflicht (“duty”), Danish pligt (“duty”), Yiddish פֿליכט (flikht). More at pledge.
Noun[edit]
plight (plural plights)
- (now chiefly dialectal) Responsibility for ensuing consequences; risk; danger; peril.
- (now chiefly dialectal) An instance of danger or peril; a dangerous moment or situation.
- (now chiefly dialectal) Blame; culpability; fault; wrong-doing; sin; crime.
- (now chiefly dialectal) One's office; duty; charge.
- (archaic) That which is exposed to risk; that which is plighted or pledged; security; a gage; a pledge.
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:
- Haply, when I shall wed,
That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry
Half my love with him, half my care and duty
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
Verb[edit]
plight (third-person singular simple present plights, present participle plighting, simple past and past participle plighted)
- (transitive, now rare) To expose to risk; to pledge.
- (transitive) Specifically, to pledge (one's troth etc.) as part of a marriage ceremony.
- (reflexive) To promise (oneself) to someone, or to do something.
- 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 226:
- I ask what I have done to deserve it, one daughter hobnobbing with radicals and the other planning to plight herself to a criminal.
- 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 226:
Derived terms[edit]
Etymology 3[edit]
From Middle English plyghten, plyȝten, pleyȝten, pleiten, pliten, from the noun (see below).
Verb[edit]
plight (third-person singular simple present plights, present participle plighting, simple past and past participle plighted)
- (obsolete) To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait.
- 1670, John Milton, The History of Britain, […] , London: Printed by J.M. for James Alleſtry, […] , OCLC 78038412, Book II, page 67:
- ſhe wore a plighted Garmend of divers colours,
Etymology 4[edit]
From Middle English pliȝt, plight, plyt, pleit, from Anglo-Norman pleit (“pleat, fold”). More at plait.
Noun[edit]
plight (plural plights)
- (obsolete) A network; a plait; a fold; rarely a garment.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book II, canto III, stanza 26:
- Many a folded plight.
Further reading[edit]
- English 1-syllable words
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- English terms inherited from Middle English
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- English lemmas
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