might
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: derivation
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.
Affixes: -th
Inflected forms:
form: mights
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: mite
pos: noun
tags: alternative
informal
pronunciation-spelling
form: mought
pos: noun
tags: alternative
dialectal
obsolete
form: might
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: might
pos: verb
tags: past
form: mought
pos: verb
tags: alternative
form: mout
pos: verb
tags: alternative
form: med
pos: verb
tags: alternative
dialectal
Senses:
gloss: Power, strength, force, or influence held by a person or group.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: […]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.
Since every nation considers itself right, peace lies in balancing the military mights of the possible rivals.
The 1833 Slavery Abolition Act had abolished slavery completely in the British Empire, and this, along with the fact that the Empire's military and economic might was beginning to pull even further ahead of other nations', thanks in part to the Industrial Revolution, saw the squadron expand to around twenty-five ships (regularly having to be swapped out because of the high incidence of tropical disease)[…]
gloss: Physical strength or force.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: He pushed with all his might, but still it would not move.
gloss: The ability to do something.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
gloss: simple past of may
pos: verb
tags: auxiliary
no-past-participle
no-present-participle
examples: You might have warned me about the thunderstorm.
gloss: Used to indicate conditional or possible actions; would perhaps/maybe.
pos: verb
tags: auxiliary
no-past-participle
no-present-participle
examples: 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.
“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.
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;[…].
gloss: Used concessively to admit something before making a more accurate or important statement; although
pos: verb
tags: auxiliary
no-past-participle
no-present-participle
examples: 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.
gloss: Used in polite requests for permission.
pos: verb
tags: auxiliary
no-past-participle
no-present-participle
examples: "Might I take the last biscuit? I wonder if I might have a little more coffee too." "Yes you may, help yourself.".
gloss: Used to express certainty.
pos: verb
tags: UK
auxiliary
no-past-participle
no-present-participle
examples: Yeah, I think we might need something a bit sturdier.
Related words: could
Derived words: almighty
might and main
mighteous
mightful
mightiness
might is right
mightless
mightly
might makes right
mightsome
mighty
unmight
with all one's might
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
Translations: