might
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: mīt
ipa: /maɪt/
ipa: [maɪt]
ipa: [mɐɪt]
ipa: [mɑjt]
ipa: [məjt]
ipa: [mɑɪt]
homophone: mite
rhymes: -aɪt
Forms: form: might
form: might
form: mought
form: mout
form: med
form: mite
Etymology: From Old English meahte and mihte, inflections of magan, whence English may.
Senses: examples: text: He asked me if he might go to the party, but I haven't decided yet.
text: I thought that I might go the next day.
text: Let's finish this task so that we might go home asap.
text: In those days, a Briton might be hanged for stealing an egg
text: The king and queen of Tahiti might not touch the ground anywhere but within their hereditary domains; for the ground on which they trod became sacred.
ref: 1922, James Frazer, chapter 60, in The Golden Bough:
text: I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
text: Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
text: With 14 minutes gone Héctor Moreno might have scored, glancing a header too close to Neuer from a free-kick.
ref: 2018 June 17, Barney Ronay, “Mexico’s Hirving Lozano stuns world champions Germany for brilliant win”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2019:
glosses: simple past of may
examples: text: You might have warned me about the thunderstorm.
glosses: simple past of may
Used to indicate a desired past action that was not done.
examples: text: Well, I might go to a party, but I haven't decided yet.
text: The characterism of an honest man: He looks not to what he might do, but what he should.
ref: 1608, Joseph Hall, Characters of Virtues and Vices:
text: “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;[…]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
ref: 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
text: It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next;[…].
ref: 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
synonyms: may
glosses: Used to indicate conditional or possible actions; would perhaps/maybe.
examples: text: I might be in a wheelchair, but I still want to be treated as a lady.
text: I might play football, but I do know how to read.
ref: 2016, Candy Sloan, Wrong Bed Reunion:
synonyms: may
glosses: Used concessively to admit something before making a more accurate or important statement; although
examples: text: "Might I take the last biscuit? I wonder if I might have a little more coffee too." "Yes you may, help yourself.".
glosses: Used in polite requests for permission.
examples: text: Yeah, I think we might need something a bit sturdier.
glosses: Used to express certainty.
Derived terms: if I might be so bold
might as well
might-be
might can
might could
might-have-been
might should
monkeys might fly out of my butt
pigs might fly
so crazy it just might work
so crazy it might just work
try as one might
Related terms: could