wiht

See also: Wiht

Old English

Alternative forms

wiaht — Kentish
wyht, wuht, uht

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /wixt/, [wiçt]
Rhymes: -ixt

Etymology 1

From a fusion of Proto-Germanic *wihtiz (feminine) and *wihtą (neuter), both meaning "thing". These words became *wihti and *wiht in West Germanic and then merged in ante-historic Old English by regular sound change.

Cognate with Old Saxon wiht (Low German Wicht), Old Dutch wiht (Dutch wicht), Old High German wiht (German Wicht), Old Norse vætr (Swedish vätte), and Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (waihts) and 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄 (waiht).

Noun

wiht f or n

thing
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
  God ne ēht nānre wihte, for þȳ hine nān wiht ne mæġ flēon.
  God doesn't chase anything, because nothing can run from him.
being, creature
- c. 1000, The Rune Poem:
  ᚢ byþ ānmōd and oferhyrned, felafrēcne dēor, feohteþ mid hornum, mǣre mōrstapa; þæt is mōdiġ wuht.
  An aurochs is steadfast and over-horned, well-wrathful beast, fights with horns, the well-known moor-stepper. That’s a headstrong being.

Declension

Feminine: Strong i-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	wiht	wihte, wihta
accusative	wiht, wihte	wihte, wihta
genitive	wihte	wihta
dative	wihte	wihtum

Neuter: Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	wiht	wihtu
accusative	wiht	wihtu
genitive	wihtes	wihta
dative	wihte	wihtum

Derived terms

āwiht
nānwiht
sǣwiht (“sea creature”)

Descendants

Middle English: wight, wiȝt
- English: wight, whit
- Scots: wicht, wycht

Etymology 2

From Proto-West Germanic *wihti.

Cognate with Middle Low German wicht, Dutch wicht, gewicht, Old Norse vætt (compare also Danish vægt, Norwegian vekt); Old High German giwihti (German Gewicht).

Noun

wiht f

weight

Synonyms

ġewiht (much more common)

Related terms

wegan

Descendants

Middle English: weght, weghte, weighte, weihte, weit, wighte
- English: weight
- Scots: wecht, weicht
- Yola: waaight

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *wihti.

Cognate with Old English wiht, Dutch wicht, Old High German wiht (German Wicht), Old Norse vættr (“exceptional creature”), vætr, véttr, or vétr (Danish vætte, Swedish vätte), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (waihts).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /wixt/

Noun

wiht n or f

creature, person, thing, being

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

Middle Low German: wicht, wucht
- German Low German: Wicht
- Dutch Low Saxon: wicht
  - Westphalian:
    Ravensbergisch-Lippisch: Wicht
    
    Sauerländisch: Weyht
    
    Westmünsterländisch: Wicht