might的词源

英文词源

might: might: [OE] Might goes back ultimately to Indo- European *mag- ‘be able, have power’, the same base as produced the auxiliary verb may. The noun might was formed with the Germanic suffix *-tiz, which also gave German and Dutch macht ‘power’; and the verb might, the past form of may, contains the past inflectional suffix (in modern English -(e)d).
=> may
might (v.): Old English mihte, meahte, originally the past tense of may (Old English magen "to be able"), thus "*may-ed." See may (v.). The first record of might-have-been is from 1848.
might (n.): Old English miht, earlier mæht "might, bodily strength, power, authority, ability," from Proto-Germanic *makhti- (cognates: Old Norse mattr, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Dutch macht, Old High German maht, German Macht, Gothic mahts), Germanic suffixed form of PIE root *magh- (1) "be able, have power" (see may (v.)).

来自古英语miht,来自Proto-Germanic*makhti,来自PIE*magh,使能够，赋予力量，词源同may,magic.引申词义强大力量，威力。后用于助动词表也许。比较may.

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：might 词源，might 含义。