# might

Pronunciation: say "MYT" /maɪt/

## Verb

1. Possibility or conditional action, 'would perhaps' ('I might go to a party, but I haven't decided yet'); weaker and more tentative than 'may'.
   - Simple: Used to say that something is possible but not certain.
   - _We might see them at the market._
   - _The plan might work if we start early._
2. Simple past of may: reported permission or possibility, past possibility, and old-style purpose. — simple past of may
   - Simple: The past form of may, used in reported speech and old-style sentences.
   - _She said she might be late._
   - _They worked hard so that their children might have a better life._
3. Used, like 'although', to admit one thing before making a more important point.
   - Simple: Used to admit one thing before saying something more important.
   - _It might be old, but it still runs._
   - _She might be new here, but she knows the job._
4. Used as an understatement for what is certain or strongly advised. *(UK)*
   - Simple: Used, especially in Britain, as a gentle way to say that something is certain or to give strong advice.
   - _We might just have a problem here._
   - _You might like to sit down for this news._
6. Polite request for permission ('Might I take the last biscuit?'), the most formal of the set; the answer is still 'you may'.
   - Simple: Used to ask politely if you may do something.
   - _Might I suggest a different approach?_
   - _Might I borrow your pen for a moment?_
7. With 'have', used to reproach someone for a desirable past action that was not done.
   - Simple: Used to complain that someone did not do something they should have.
   - _You might have told me the shop was shut._
   - _He might at least have apologized._

## Noun

5. Great power, strength, or force, whether physical or held by a person, group, or nation.
   - Simple: Great strength or power, of a body or of a person, group, or country.
   - _The company used its financial might to crush rivals._
   - _They feared the might of the northern army._

## Adjective

8. Mighty or powerful. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old word meaning 'mighty', strong or powerful.
9. Possible or able to be done. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An old word meaning 'possible', something that could be done.

## Other meanings

- (noun) The ability to do something, capacity ('it is not in my might'); now rare outside set phrases.

## Origin

**Meanings 5, 8–9** — From Middle English might, from Old English miht, mieht ("might, bodily strength, power, authority, ability"), from Proto-Germanic *mahtiz, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to be able." It is essentially 'may' plus a suffix, and is related to Dutch macht, German Macht, and Swedish makt.
**Meanings 1–4, 6–7** — Old English magan, the ancestor of English "may," had the inflected forms meahte and mihte, and these are the source of this word.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/might (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).