might

== English == === Pronunciation === enPR: mīt, IPA(key): /maɪt/ (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): [maɪt] (US) IPA(key): [mɐɪt] (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): [mɑjt] (Canada) IPA(key): [məjt] (General Australian) IPA(key): [mɑɪt] Homophone: mite Rhymes: -aɪt === Etymology 1 === 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. ==== Alternative forms ==== mite (eye dialect, informal) mought (obsolete outside dialects) ==== Noun ==== might (countable and uncountable, plural mights) (countable, uncountable) Power, strength, force, or influence held by a person or group. Synonyms: authority, potency; see also Thesaurus:power (uncountable) Physical strength or force. Synonyms: brawn, fortitude, pith (uncountable) The ability to do something. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Adjective ==== might (comparative mighter, superlative mightest) (obsolete) Mighty; powerful. (obsolete) Possible. === Etymology 2 === From Old English meahte and mihte, inflections of magan, whence English may. ==== Alternative forms ==== med (dialect) ==== Verb ==== might (third-person singular simple present might, no present participle, simple past might, no past participle) (auxiliary) simple past of may [past typical occurrence]. Used to indicate a desired past action that was not done. (auxiliary) Used to indicate conditional or possible actions; would perhaps/maybe. Synonym: may (auxiliary) Used concessively to admit something before making a more accurate or important statement; although Synonym: may (auxiliary) Used in polite requests for permission. (auxiliary, UK, meiosis) Used to express certainty. ===== Usage notes ===== For many speakers, the use as the past tense of the auxiliary may, indicating permission, is obsolete: I told him he might not see her will only be interpreted as "I told him he would possibly not see her," and not as "I told him he was not allowed to see her." For the latter case, "could not" or "was/were not allowed to," "was/were forbidden to," etc., will be used instead. ===== Conjugation ===== archaic second-person singular simple past - mightest nonstandard, archaic third-person singular simple past - mighteth ===== Alternative forms ===== mought (obsolete outside US dialects) mout (US regional pronunciation spelling) ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== See also ==== could Appendix:English modal verbs Appendix:English tag questions === References === “might”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. == Middle English == === Noun === might alternative form of myght