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Webster 1913 Edition

Might

Might

(mīt)
,
imp.
of
May
.
[AS.
meahte
,
mihte
.]

Might

,
Noun.
[AS.
meaht
,
miht
, from the root of
magan
to be able, E.
may
; akin to D.
magt
, OS.
maht
, G.
macht
, Icel.
māttr
, Goth.
mahts
. √103. See
May
,
Verb.
]
Force or power of any kind, whether of body or mind; energy or intensity of purpose, feeling, or action; means or resources to effect an object; strength; force; power; ability; capacity.
What so strong,
But wanting rest, will also want of
might
?
Spenser.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
might
.
Deut. vi. 5.
With might and main
.
See under 2d
Main
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Might

MIGHT

,
Noun.
pret. of may. Had power or liberty. He might go, or might have gone.
1.
It sometimes denotes was possible, implying ignorance of the fact in the speaker. Orders might have been given for the purpose.

MIGHT

, n.
1.
Strength; force; power; primarily and chiefly, bodily strength or physical power; as, to work or strive with all one's might.
There small be no might in thy hand. Deut.28.
2.
Political power or great achievements.
The acts of David--with all his reign and his might.
1 Chron.29. l Kings 15.
3.
National strength; physical power or military force.
We have no might against this great company that cometh against us. 2 Chron.20.
4.
Valor with bodily strength; military prowess; as men of might. 1 Chron.12.
5.
Ability; strength or application of means.
I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God--1 Chron.29.
6.
Strength or force of purpose.
Like him was no king that turned to the Lord with all his might. 2 Kings 23.
7.
Strength of affection.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul,and with all thy might. Deut.6.
8.
Strength of light; splendor; effulgence.
Let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. Judges 5.
Shakespeare applied the word to an oath. 'An oath of mickle might.' This application is obsolete. We now use strength or force; as the strength or force of an oath or covenant.
With might and main, with the utmost strength or bodily exertion; a tautological phrase, as both words are from the same root, and mean the same thing.

Definition 2024

might

might

English

Pronunciation

  • enPR: mīt, IPA(key): /maɪt/
  • Homophone: mite
  • Rhymes: -aɪt

Noun

might ‎(countable and uncountable, plural mights)

  1. (uncountable, countable) Power, strength, force or influence held by a person or group.
  2. (uncountable) Physical strength.
    He pushed with all his might, but still it would not move.
  3. (uncountable) The ability to do something.
Translations

Adjective

might ‎(comparative mighter, superlative mightest)

  1. (obsolete, chiefly before 1900) Mighty; powerful; possible.

Etymology 2

From Old English meahte and mihte, from magan, whence English may.

Verb

might

  1. (auxiliary) Used to indicate conditional or possible actions.
    I might go to the party, but I haven't decided yet.‎
    • Bishop Joseph Hall
      The characterism of an honest man: He looks not to what he might do, but what he should.
    • 1907, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter IX”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:
      “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.
    • 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
      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; […].
  2. (auxiliary) simple past tense of may Used to indicate permission in past tense.
    He asked me if he might go to the party, but I haven't decided yet.‎
  3. (auxiliary) simple past tense of may Used to indicate possibility in past tense.
    I thought that I might go the next day.‎
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      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.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess:
      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.
Conjugation
  • archaic second-person singular simple past - mightest
  • nonstandard, archaic third-person singular simple past - mighteth
Translations

See also

  • could
  • Appendix:English modal verbs
  • Appendix:English tag questions

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: without · make · def · #112: might · being · day · through

Etymology

From Middle English might, myghte, (also maught, macht, maht), from Old English miht, mieht, meaht, mæht ‎(“might, bodily strength, power, authority, ability, virtue, mighty work, miracle, angel”), from Proto-Germanic *mahtiz, *mahtuz ‎(“might, power”), from Proto-Indo-European *mógʰtis, *megʰ- ‎(“to allow, be able, help”), corresponding to Germanic *maganą + *-þiz. Cognate with Scots micht, maucht ‎(“might”), North Frisian macht ‎(“might, ability”), West Frisian macht ‎(“might, ability”), Dutch macht ‎(“might, power”), German Macht ‎(“power, might”), Swedish makt ‎(“might”), Icelandic máttur ‎(“might”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 ‎(mahts). Related to may.

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