different between might vs impact

English

Alternative forms

• mite (eye dialect, informal)

Pronunciation

• enPR: m?t, IPA^(key): /ma?t/
• Homophone: mite
• Rhymes: -a?t

Etymology 1

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 *móg?tis, *meg?- (“to allow, be able, help”), corresponding to Germanic *magan? + *-þiz.

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 ???????????????????? (mahts). Related to may.

Noun

might (countable and uncountable, plural mights)

1. (countable, uncountable) Power, strength, force or influence held by a person or group.
   • 1969, {unattributed}, Journal of the United Service Institution of India, Volume 99

     "Since every nation considers itself right, peace lies in balancing the military mights of the possible rivals."

2. (uncountable) Physical strength or force.

   He pushed with all his might, but still it would not move.

3. (uncountable) The ability to do something.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

might (comparative mighter, superlative mightest)

1. (obsolete) Mighty; powerful.
2. (obsolete) Possible.

Etymology 2

From Old English meahte and mihte, from magan, whence English may.

Verb

might (third-person singular simple present might, no present participle, simple past might, no past participle)

1. (auxiliary) Used to indicate conditional or possible actions.
   • 1608, Joseph Hall, Characters of Virtues and Vices

     The characterism of an honest man: He looks not to what he might do, but what he should.

   • “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; […]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
2. (auxiliary) simple past tense of may Used to indicate permission in past tense.
   • 1922, James Frazer, The Golden Bough, Chapter 60:

     The king and queen of Tahiti might not touch the ground anywhere but within their hereditary domains; for the ground on which they trod became sacred.

3. (auxiliary) simple past tense of may Used to indicate possibility in past tense.
4. Used to indicate a desired past action that was not done.
5. (auxiliary) Even though.
6. (auxiliary) Used in polite requests for permission

Usage notes

For many speakers, the use as the past tense of the auxiliary may, indicating permission, is obsolete: I told him he might not see her will only be interpreted as "I told him he would possibly not see her," and not as "I told him he was not allowed to see her." For the latter case, "could not" or "was/were not allowed to," "was/were forbidden to," etc., will be used instead.

Conjugation

• archaic second-person singular simple past - mightest
• nonstandard, archaic third-person singular simple past - mighteth

Alternative forms

• mought (obsolete outside US dialects)
• mout (US regional pronunciation spelling)

Translations

See also

• could
• Appendix:English modal verbs
• Appendix:English tag questions

References

• might at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

From Latin imp?ctus, perfect passive participle of imping? (“dash against, impinge”).

Pronunciation

• (noun): enPR: im?p?kt, IPA^(key): /??mpækt/
• (verb): enPR: im-p?kt?, IPA^(key): /?m?pækt/
• • Rhymes: -ækt

Noun

impact (countable and uncountable, plural impacts)

1. The striking of one body against another; collision.
2. The force or energy of a collision of two objects.

3. (chiefly medicine) A forced impinging.

4. A significant or strong influence; an effect.

Usage notes

• Adjectives often applied to "impact": social, political, physical, positive, negative, good, bad, beneficial, harmful, significant, great, important, strong, big, small, real, huge, likely, actual, potential, devastating, disastrous, true, primary.
• The adposition generally used with "impact" is "on" (such as in last example in section above)
• There are English speakers who are so averse to the verb sense that they have become hypersensitive to the use of the figurative noun sense, with a low threshold for labeling such use as overuse (cliché). In defensive editing, the solution is to replace the figurative noun sense with effect and the verb sense with affect, which nearly always produces an acceptable result. (Rarely, a phrase such as "the impact of late effects" is better stetted to avoid "the effect of [...] effects".)

Derived terms

Related terms

• impinge

Translations

Verb

impact (third-person singular simple present impacts, present participle impacting, simple past and past participle impacted)

1. (transitive) To collide or strike, the act of impinging.

   When the hammer impacts the nail, it bends.

2. (transitive) To compress; to compact; to press into something or pack together.

   The footprints of birds do not impact the soil in the way those of dinosaurs do.

3. (transitive, proscribed) To influence; to affect; to have an impact on.

   I can make the changes, but it will impact the schedule.

4. (transitive, rare) To stamp or impress onto something.

   Ideas impacted on the mind.

Usage notes

Some authorities object to the verb sense of impact meaning "to influence; to affect; to have an impact on". Although most verbification instances in English draw no prescriptive attention, a few do, including this one. To avoid annoying those readers who care, one can replace the verb sense with affect, which nearly always produces an acceptable result. See also the usage note for the noun sense.

Derived terms

• impaction
• impactor

Translations

French

Etymology

From Latin, see above.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.pakt/

Noun

impact m (plural impacts)

1. (literally or figuratively) impact

Further reading

• “impact” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Romanian

Etymology

From French impact, from Latin impactus.

Noun

impact n (plural impacturi)

1. impact

Declension