Source etymology 1
Original entry ↗A living creature, especially a human being. · A supernatural being, often used in compounds such as the land-vættr which guard the land, especially the four guardians of Iceland. · A ghost, deity or other supernatural entity. · A wraith-like creature.
From Middle English wight, wiȝt, from Old English wiht (“thing, creature”), from Proto-West Germanic *wihti, from Proto-Germanic *wihtiz (“thing, creature”, literally “being”), from Proto-Indo-European *wekti- (“cause, sake, thing”), from *wekʷ- (“to say, tell”). Cognate with Scots wicht (“creature, being, human”), Dutch wicht (“child, baby, girl”), German Low German Wicht (“girl; wight”), German Wicht (“wretch, wight, little creature, scoundrel”), Danish vætte (“underground creature, gnome”), Norwegian Bokmål vette (“underground creature, gnome”), Swedish vätte (“underground creature, gnome”), Icelandic vættur (“imp, elf”). Doublet of whit.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Root classification mention*wekʷ-ine-pro
- Inherited-form mentionwightenm
- Inherited-form mentionwihtang · thing, creature
- Inherited-form mention*wihtigmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*wihtizgem-pro · thing, creature
- Inherited-form mention*wekti-ine-pro
- Cognate mentionwichtsco · creature, being, human
- Cognate mentionwichtnl · child, baby, girl
- Cognate mentionWichtde · wretch, wight, little creature, scoundrel
- Cognate mentionvætteda · underground creature, gnome
- Cognate mentionvettenb · underground creature, gnome
- Cognate mentionvättesv · underground creature, gnome
- Cognate mentionvætturis · imp, elf
- Doublet mentionwhiten
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
{
"templates": [
{
"name": "root",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*wekʷ-"
},
"expansion": ""
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "enm",
"3": "wight"
},
"expansion": "Middle English wight"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ang",
"3": "wiht",
"t": "thing, creature"
},
"expansion": "Old English wiht (“thing, creature”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gmw-pro",
"3": "*wihti"
},
"expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *wihti"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "gem-pro",
"3": "*wihtiz",
"t": "thing, creature",
"lit": "being"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Germanic *wihtiz (“thing, creature”, literally “being”)"
},
{
"name": "inh",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*wekti-",
"4": "",
"5": "cause, sake, thing"
},
"expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *wekti- (“cause, sake, thing”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sco",
"2": "wicht",
"t": "creature, being, human"
},
"expansion": "Scots wicht (“creature, being, human”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nl",
"2": "wicht",
"t": "child, baby, girl"
},
"expansion": "Dutch wicht (“child, baby, girl”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nds-de",
"2": "Wicht",
"t": "girl; wight"
},
"expansion": "German Low German Wicht (“girl; wight”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Wicht",
"t": "wretch, wight, little creature, scoundrel"
},
"expansion": "German Wicht (“wretch, wight, little creature, scoundrel”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "da",
"2": "vætte",
"t": "underground creature, gnome"
},
"expansion": "Danish vætte (“underground creature, gnome”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "nb",
"2": "vette",
"t": "underground creature, gnome"
},
"expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål vette (“underground creature, gnome”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "sv",
"2": "vätte",
"t": "underground creature, gnome"
},
"expansion": "Swedish vätte (“underground creature, gnome”)"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "is",
"2": "vættur",
"t": "imp, elf"
},
"expansion": "Icelandic vættur (“imp, elf”)"
},
{
"name": "doublet",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "whit"
},
"expansion": "Doublet of whit"
}
],
"links": [
[
"wight",
"wight#Middle_English"
],
[
"wiȝt",
"wiȝt#Middle_English"
],
[
"wiht",
"wiht#Old_English"
],
[
"*wihti",
"Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/wihti"
],
[
"*wihtiz",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wihtiz"
],
[
"*wekti-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/wekti-"
],
[
"*wekʷ-",
"Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/wekʷ-"
],
[
"wicht",
"wicht#Scots"
],
[
"wicht",
"wicht#Dutch"
],
[
"Wicht",
"Wicht#Low_German"
],
[
"Wicht",
"Wicht#German"
],
[
"vætte",
"vætte#Danish"
],
[
"vette",
"vette#Norwegian_Bokmål"
],
[
"vätte",
"vätte#Swedish"
],
[
"vættur",
"vættur#Icelandic"
],
[
"whit",
"whit#English"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "noun",
"glosses": [
"A living creature, especially a human being.",
"A supernatural being, often used in compounds such as the land-vættr which guard the land, especially the four guardians of Iceland.",
"A ghost, deity or other supernatural entity.",
"A wraith-like creature."
],
"tags": [
"archaic",
"Germanic",
"Old-Norse",
"poetic"
],
"recordId": "533d605b3913e3cf87d49ab1b9af69e58b7dce469d3c716d1f0a1a2d052f3d58",
"rawRecordSha256": "533ba18a778ddc9c5231e77c9adb86f91322bc5ca6dc29a32d7c533f0d1c165e",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 269627
}
],
"omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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}