Friday, November 29, 2013

Fwd: wight: Dictionary.com Word of the Day

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dictionary.com <doctor@dictionary.com>
Date: 2013/11/29
Subject: wight: Dictionary.com Word of the Day
To: "Hector William G." <hectorpinillos@gmail.com>

Word of the Day for Friday, November 29, 2013

wight \wahyt\, adjective:

1. active; nimble.
2. strong and brave, especially in war.

noun:
1. a human being.
2. Obsolete. a. a supernatural being, as a witch or sprite. b. any living being; a creature.

Sir William of Deloraine, good at need / Mount thee on thy wightest steed; / Spare not to spur nor stint or ride / Until thou come to fair Tweedside…
-- Sir Walter Scott, The Lay of the Lady Minstrel, 1805

But if there happen to be an unduly slender, clumsy, or timorous wightin the ship, that wight is certain to be made a ship-keeper.
-- Herman Melville, Moby Dick; or, The Whale, 1851

Wight is related to the Old Norse word vīgr which meant "able to fight."

Read the full entry | See synonyms | Comment on today's word | Suggest tomorrow's word

Yesterday's word | Previous words | Help

Words of the Day? How about words of timeless wisdom?

Introducing our Quotes channel! "Life itself is a quotation." - Jorge Luis Borges
Check out the Quote of the Day ››

How Do You Spell Chanukah?

Hanukkah begins this week. So does Chanukah, Hannukah, Hannukkah, and Channukah. Confused? We don't blame you. Why is this Jewish holiday, also known as the Festival of Lights, spelled in so many ways? The answer comes down to transliteration. Unlike translation, transliteration is when you "change (letters, words, etc.) into corresponding characters of another alphabet or...
Read more ››

Dictionary.com Word of the Day	You are subscribed to the Word of the Day as: hectorpinillos@gmail.com
Subscriber since: June 03, 2013 Unsubscribe from the Word of the Day	To subscribe to the Word of the Day by email, please send a blank message to: join-wordoftheday@lists.lexico.com
©2013 by Dictionary.com, LLC. 555 12th Street Suite 500 Oakland CA 94607	Subscriptions to the Word of the Day can also be managed online
	Tell a friend about the Word of the Day!