English
wight
Wight comes from Middle English wight ‘a creature, a being’, from Proto-Indo-European *wekti- ‘cause, sake, thing’, and ultimately from *wekʷ- ‘to say, tell’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-‘to say, tell’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekti-‘cause, sake, thing’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wihtiz‘thing, creature’literally ‘being’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wihtireconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wiht‘thing, creature’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wight‘a creature, a being’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1597same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-‘to say, tell’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekti-‘cause, sake, thing’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wihtiz‘thing, creature’literally ‘being’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wihtireconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wiht‘thing, creature’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wight‘a creature, a being’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1597same form
Earliest quotation: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for Arthur Ihonson: “O bace gongarian wight, wilt thou the ſpicket willd?”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to say, tell’
voice, epic, invite, vocal, invitation, vie, invoke, vox, vouch, invocation, vociferous, epos, 34 more
through Old English wiht ‘thing, creature’
Today it means
noun A living creature, especially a human being.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- / wight