wight
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wight¹
- /waɪt/
Sounds like wite, white (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -aɪt
Where it comes from
From Middle English wight, wiȝt, from Old English wiht (“thing, creature”), from Proto-West Germanic *wihti, from Proto-Germanic *wihtiz (“thing, creature”, literally “being”), from Proto-Indo-European *wekti- (“cause, sake, thing”), from *wekʷ- (“to say, tell”).
Cognate with Scots wicht (“creature, being, human”), Dutch wicht (“child, baby, girl”), German Low German Wicht (“girl; wight”), German Wicht (“wretch, wight, little creature, scoundrel”), Danish vætte (“underground creature, gnome”), Norwegian Bokmål vette (“underground creature, gnome”), Swedish vätte (“underground creature, gnome”), Icelandic vættur (“imp, elf”). Doublet of whit.
noun wights
- A living creature, especially a human being. O bace gongarian wight, wilt thou the ſpicket willd?
- A supernatural being, often used in compounds such as the land-vættr which guard the land, especially the four guardians of Iceland.
- A ghost, deity or other supernatural entity. But I saw a glow-worm near, / Who replied: ‘What wailing wight / Calls the watchman of the night?
- A wraith-like creature.
wight²
- /waɪt/
Sounds like wite, white (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -aɪt
Where it comes from
From Middle English wight, from Old Norse vígt, neuter of vígr (“skilled in fighting, of age”), from Proto-Germanic *wīgaz (“fighting”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to fight”). Cognate with Old English wīġ.
adjective
- Brave, valorous, strong. I haue two sones that were but late made knyghtes / and the eldest hyghte sir Tirre /[…]/ and my yongest sone hyght Lauayne / and yf hit please yow / he shalle ryde with yow vnto that Iustes / and he is of his age x stronge and wyght
- Strong; stout; active. Then spake Much the milner son, / Ever more well him betide! / ‘Take twelve of thy wight yeomen, / Well weapon’d by thy side. / Such one would thyselfë slon, / That twelve dare not abide.’
Wight³
Where it comes from
From Old English Wiht, from Latin Vēctis (“Isle of Wight”).
proper noun
- The Isle of Wight.
- A sea area comprising part of the English Channel, from the southern English coast down to Normandy.
Wight⁴
Where it comes from
Scottish and English surname, from the noun wight.
proper noun
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: creature, whyte, white, wyatt, waight, widge, weoman, whoman, corpse, swarth, thew, wough, lich, whid, wommon, weft
Translations
Talk about this word "wight." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wight. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. wight. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wight "wight." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wight.Cite this
@misc{wight_2026,
title = {wight},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wight},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
