might

Pronunciation

• IPA: /maɪt/^[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English might,^[2][3] inherited from Old English miht (“bodily strength, power; authority; ability”), earlier meaht, Anglian mæht,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *mahtiz,^[3][2] a suffixed form from the base of may,^[4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *magh- (“to be able, have power”).^[2][6][7] Its cognates include Old Frisian macht, Old Saxon maht, Dutch macht, Old High German maht (modern German Macht), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (mahts) and Old Norse máttr.^[3][4][7] The auxiliary verb is inherited from Middle English mighte, inherited from Old English mihte, meahte, earlier mæhte,^[3][6][8] the past tense of magan (“to be able”);^[6][2] it is related to Old High German mahta (“could”), Old Norse mátti and Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐌰 (mahta).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ability, power to do something; bodily strength; great power or dominion (Old English, before 700).^[9][10][2]

Semantic evolution

Old English miht covered bodily strength, power and authority, resources and wealth, and also ability, capacity and knowledge;^[2] mid alle þine mahte, “with all thy might”, is already in Old English.^[2] In Middle English might was used especially of the supernatural power of God and of a mighty work or miracle, and of military power, courage and violence;^[2][11] the contrast of might and right also dates from Middle English,^[12] as in a song of about 1330, “For miht is right; þe lond is laweles”.^[2] From the late 14th century it could mean “potentiality”, translating Latin potentia.^[2] The senses “bodily strength” and “efficacy, virtue” have become obsolete or poetic, and great power is now somewhat rhetorical.^[13][4] The alliterative pairing with main, as in with might and main, is found in Old English.^[12] The verb might, originally a past tense of may, was used at least from late Old English in present or future senses, as a weaker or more tentative may.^[2][14] In the dialects of the southern United States it occurs in “double modal” constructions such as might could.^[15] The noun might-have-been is attested by 1848.^[2]

Timeline

• before 700 – Old English mæct, power.^[9]
• before 830 – mæhte, past tense of magan.^[9]
• before 899 – mihte, meahte, in Alfred's translation of Bede.^[9]
• before 1325 – the noun spelled might.^[3]
• c. 1330 – might is right.^[2]
• c. 1387 – myghte, past tense of may.^[3]
• 1834 – a might of, a great deal of (US regional).^[13]
• 1848 – might-have-been.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Great power, force or influence, held by a person, group or nation.
2. Physical strength.
3. Strength or ability to do something: with all one's might.

Verb

1. Past tense of may, expressing permission or possibility in the past.
2. Expressing a condition contrary to fact: if he were older he might understand.
3. Expressing a possibility weaker than may: it might rain.
4. Used in polite requests and questions: might I ask who is calling?
5. Expressing reproach or a mild suggestion: you might have told me.

Word family

• mightless
• almighty
• mightiness
• mighty
• might-have-been

Related words

• may
• main

Usage notes

In many Southern varieties of American English might is combined with could (we might could park there); the American Heritage Dictionary notes that such “double modals” are unfamiliar to most Americans and best avoided in formal writing.^[15] Random House lists might as a synonym of strength, with weakness as its opposite.^[16]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
14. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
16. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House