might
/maɪt/
"might" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“might” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #207 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #207
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 13
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Power, strength, force, or influence held by a person or group.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | might |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /maɪt/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #207 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 13 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “might” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for might is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /maɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #207 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for might, with forms such as "imght", "mgiht", and "migght". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "mit", "mint", "mist", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English myght, might (also maught, macht, maht), from Old English miht, mieht, meaht, mæht (“might, bodily strength, power, authority, ability, virtue, mighty work, miracle, angel”), from Proto-West Germanic *mahti, from Proto-Germanic *mahtiz, … The correct English form is might, spelled M-I-G-H-T.
Definition
- 1Power, strength, force, or influence held by a person or group.
- 2Physical strength or force.
- 3The ability to do something.
Etymology
From Middle English myght, might (also maught, macht, maht), from Old English miht, mieht, meaht, mæht (“might, bodily strength, power, authority, ability, virtue, mighty work, miracle, angel”), from Proto-West Germanic *mahti, from Proto-Germanic *mahtiz, *mahtuz (“might, power”), from Proto-Indo-European *mógʰtis, *megʰ- (“to allow, be able, help”), corresponding to Germanic *maganą + *-þiz. Equivalent to may + -th. Cognate with Scots micht, maucht (“might”), North Frisian macht (“might, ability”), West Frisian macht (“might, ability”), Dutch macht (“might, power”), German Macht (“power, might”), Swedish makt (“might”), Norwegian makt (“power”), Icelandic máttur (“might”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 (mahts), and further to Russian мочь (močʹ, “power, might”) and мощь (moščʹ, “force, strength”), Ukrainian міч (mič) and міць (micʹ, “power”), Bulgarian мощ (mošt, “power, might”), Serbo-Croatian moć (“power”), Czech moc (“power”), Polish moc (“power”). See more at may.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: imght,mgiht,migght,mighht,mightt,migth,mihgt,mmight
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of might - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “might”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-I-G-H-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /maɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “mit” - see the side-by-side comparison. might vs mit
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.