wight

Etymology 1

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”), Norwegian Bokmål vette (“underground creature, gnome”), Swedish vätte (“underground creature, gnome”), Icelandic vættur (“imp, elf”). Doublet of whit.

noun

1. (archaic) A living creature, especially a human being.
   Oh say me true if thou wert mortal wight And why from us so quickly thou didst take thy flight. 1626, John Milton, On the Death of a Fair Infant Dying of a Cough, verse vi
   The man that hath no love of chess/Is truth to say a sorry wight. c. 1872, a Knight's tour cryptotour poem, possibly by Howard Staunton, lines 1 and 2
   […]Alaeddin ate and drank and was cheered and after he had rested and had recovered spirits he cried, "Ah, O my mother, I have a sore grievance against thee for leaving me to that accursed wight who strave to compass my destruction and designed to take my life. Know that I beheld Death with mine own eyes at the hand of this damned wretch, whom thou didst certify to be my uncle;[…] 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 532
2. (paganism) A being of one of the Nine Worlds of Heathen belief, especially a nature spirit, elf or ancestor.
3. (poetic) A ghost, deity or other supernatural entity.
   But I saw a glow-worm near, / Who replied: ‘What wailing wight / Calls the watchman of the night? 1789, William Blake, A Dream, lines 14–16
   Everything in their way was kicked out of place, the barrow-wight setting on with hideous eagerness; Grettir gave back before him for a long time, till at last it came to this, that he saw it would not do to hoard his strength any more; now neither spared the other, and they were brought to where the horse-bones were, and thereabout they wrestled long. 1869, William Morris, Eiríkr Magnússon, transl., Grettis Saga: The Story of Grettir the Strong, F. S. Ellis, page 49
4. (fantasy) A wraith-like creature.

Etymology 2

From Middle English wight, from Old Norse vígt, neuter of vígr (“skilled in fighting, of age”), from Proto-Germanic *wīgaz (“fighting”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to fight”). Cognate with Old English wīġ.

adj

1. (archaic, except in dialects) Brave, valorous, strong.
2. (UK dialectal, obsolete) Strong; stout; active.
   Then spake Much the milner son, / Ever more well him betide! / ‘Take twelve of thy wight yeomen, / Well weapon’d by thy side. / Such one would thyselfë slon, / That twelve dare not abide.’ a. 1450, “Robin Hood and the Monk”, in Frank Sidgwick, editor, Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws, published 1912, lines 29–34, page 98
   Ye do you to my father's stable, / Where steeds do stand baith wight and able; / Strike ane o' them upo' the back, / The swiftest will gie his head a wap. a. 1828, “Leesome Brand”, in Peter Buchan, editor, Ancient Ballads and Songs of the North of Scotland, volume 1, published 1828, lines 21–24, page 39