# wight

> English word · Noun · IPA /waɪt/ · frequency rank #21,706

## Definitions
1. A living creature, especially a human being.
2. A supernatural being, often used in compounds such as the land-vættr which guard the land, especially the four guardians of Iceland.
3. A ghost, deity or other supernatural entity.
4. A wraith-like creature.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **wit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wight-vs-wit)
- **with** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wight-vs-with)
- **wish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wight-vs-wish)
- **wigs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wight-vs-wigs)
- **wilt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wight-vs-wilt)
- **Witt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wight-vs-witt)
- **wright** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wight-vs-wright)
- **yt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wight-vs-yt)
- **wig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wig-vs-wight)
- **wich** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wich-vs-wight)
- **weigh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weigh-vs-wight)
- **Wigan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wigan-vs-wight)
- **weight** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weight-vs-wight)
- **weighs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weighs-vs-wight)
- **widget** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/widget-vs-wight)
- **weights** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weights-vs-wight)
- **weighty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/weighty-vs-wight)
- **white** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/white-vs-wight)

## Common misspellings (8)
`iwght`, `wgiht`, `wigght`, `wighht`, `wightt`, `wigth`, `wihgt`, `wwight`

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