wight

Meanings

Noun

• A living creature, especially a human being.
• A being of one of the Nine Worlds of Heathen belief, especially a nature spirit, elf or ancestor.
• A ghost, deity or other supernatural entity.
• A wraith-like creature.

Adjective

• Brave, valorous, strong.
• Strong; stout; active.

Origin

• From Middle English wight, wiȝt, from Old English wiht, from Proto-West Germanic *wihti, from Proto-Germanic *wihtiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wekti- ("cause, sake, thing"), from *wekʷ-.
• Cognate with Scots wicht, Dutch wicht, German Low German Wicht, German Wicht, Norwegian Bokmål vette, Swedish vätte, Icelandic vættur. whit.
• From Middle English wight, from Old Norse vígt, neuter of vígr, from Proto-Germanic *wīgaz, from Proto-Indo-European *weyk-. Cognate with Old English wīġ.