might
pronunciation
How to pronounce might in British English:
UK [maɪt]
How to pronounce might in American English:
US [maɪt]
-
- Noun:
- physical strength
Word Origin
- might
- might: [OE] Might goes back ultimately to Indo- European *mag- ‘be able, have power’, the same base as produced the auxiliary verb may. The noun might was formed with the Germanic suffix *-tiz, which also gave German and Dutch macht ‘power’; and the verb might, the past form of may, contains the past inflectional suffix (in modern English -(e)d).=> may
- might (v.)
- Old English mihte, meahte, originally the past tense of may (Old English magen "to be able"), thus "*may-ed." See may (v.). The first record of might-have-been is from 1848.
- might (n.)
- Old English miht, earlier mæht "might, bodily strength, power, authority, ability," from Proto-Germanic *makhti- (cognates: Old Norse mattr, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Dutch macht, Old High German maht, German Macht, Gothic mahts), Germanic suffixed form of PIE root *magh- (1) "be able, have power" (see may (v.)).
Example
- 1. That might seem surprising on the face of it .
- 2. What are you afraid I might do ?
- 3. You might not get there . "
- 4. That might not be far enough .
- 5. Nor more educational , he might have added .