# smite

> English word · Verb · IPA /smaɪt/ · frequency rank #31,767

## Definitions
1. To hit; to strike.
2. To strike down or kill with godly force.
3. To injure with divine power.
4. To kill violently; to slay.
5. To put to rout in battle; to overthrow by war.
6. To afflict; to chasten; to punish.
7. To strike with love or infatuation.

## Etymology
From Middle English smiten, from Old English smītan (“to daub, smear, smudge; soil, defile, pollute”), from Proto-West Germanic *smītan, from Proto-Germanic *smītaną (“to sling; throw; smear”), from Proto-Indo-European *smeyd- (“to smear, whisk, strike, rub”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian smiete (“to throw, toss”), West Frisian smite (“to throw”), Dutch smijten (“to fling, hurl, throw”), German Low German smieten (“to throw, chuck, toss”), German schmeißen (“to fling, throw”), Danish smide (“to throw”), Swedish smita (“to run off (to)”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌼𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (bismeitan, “to besmear, anoint”).

## Easily confused with
- **SMT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-smt)
- **suit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-suit)
- **spit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-spit)
- **smut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-smut)
- **state** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-state)
- **smith** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-smith)
- **smoke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-smoke)
- **suits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-suits)
- **suite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-suite)
- **spite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-spite)
- **spike** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-spike)
- **spice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-spice)
- **spine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-spine)
- **swipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-swipe)
- **swine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-swine)
- **spire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-spire)
- **Smyth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-smyth)
- **snipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-snipe)
- **spate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-spate)
- **stipe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smite-vs-stipe)

## Common misspellings (7)
`msite`, `simte`, `smiet`, `smitte`, `smmite`, `smtie`, `ssmite`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/smite