different between might vs stress

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 a shortening of Middle English destresse, borrowed from Old French destrecier, from Latin distring? (“to stretch out”). This form probably coalesced with Middle English stresse, from Old French estrece (“narrowness”), from Vulgar Latin *strictia, from Latin strictus (“narrow”).

In the sense of "mental strain" or “disruption”, used occasionally in the 1920s and 1930s by psychologists, including Walter Cannon (1934); in “biological threat”, used by endocrinologist Hans Selye, by metaphor with stress in physics (force on an object) in the 1930s, and popularized by same in the 1950s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /st??s/
• Rhymes: -?s

Noun

stress (countable and uncountable, plural stresses)

1. (biology) A physical, chemical, infective agent aggressing an organism.
2. (biology) Aggression toward an organism resulting in a response in an attempt to restore previous conditions.
3. (countable, physics) The internal distribution of force across a small boundary per unit area of that boundary (pressure) within a body. It causes strain or deformation and is typically symbolised by ? or ?.
4. (countable, physics) Force externally applied to a body which cause internal stress within the body.
5. (uncountable) Emotional pressure suffered by a human being or other animal.

6. (uncountable, phonetics) The emphasis placed on a syllable of a word.

7. (uncountable) Emphasis placed on words in speaking.
8. (uncountable) Emphasis placed on a particular point in an argument or discussion (whether spoken or written).
9. Obsolete form of distress.
10. (Scotland, law) distress; the act of distraining; also, the thing distrained.

Synonyms

• (phonetics): accent, emphasis
• (on words in speaking): emphasis
• (on a point): emphasis

Derived terms

• stress deafness
• stress-free, stressfree
• stressful
• stresswise

Translations

Verb

stress (third-person singular simple present stresses, present participle stressing, simple past and past participle stressed)

1. (transitive) To apply force to (a body or structure) causing strain.
2. (transitive) To apply emotional pressure to (a person or animal).
3. (intransitive, informal) To suffer stress; to worry or be agitated.
4. (transitive) To emphasise (a syllable of a word).

5. (transitive) To emphasise (words in speaking).
6. (transitive) To emphasise (a point) in an argument or discussion.

Synonyms

• (phonetics): emphasise/emphasize
• (on words in speaking): emphasise/emphasize
• (on a point): emphasise/emphasize, underline

Derived terms

• de-stress, destress
• stressed
• stress out

Translations

References

Related terms

• strain
• strait
• strict
• stringent
• stringency

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?sd???s], [?sd??as], [?sd???s]

Noun

stress c or n (singular definite stressen or stresset, not used in plural)

1. stress

Derived terms

• stresse (verb)
• stresset (adjective)

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?s

Noun

stress m (uncountable)

1. stress

Derived terms

• stressen (“to be stressed”)
• stresskip
• stresskonijn

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /st??s/

Noun

stress m (uncountable)

1. stress (emotional pressure)

Derived terms

• stresser

Further reading

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

Icelandic

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /str?s?/
• Rhymes: -?s?

Noun

stress n (genitive singular stress, no plural)

1. stress

Declension

Related terms

• stressa
• stressaður

Indonesian

Noun

stress (first-person possessive stressku, second-person possessive stressmu, third-person possessive stressnya)

1. Nonstandard spelling of stres.

Adjective

stress (plural stress-stress)

1. Nonstandard spelling of stres.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Noun

stress m (invariable)

1. stress

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Verb

stress

1. imperative of stresse

Portuguese

Noun

stress m (plural stresses)

1. Alternative form of estresse

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /es?t?es/, [es?t??es]

Noun

stress m (plural stresses)

1. stress

   Synonym: estrés

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English stress.

Noun

stress c (uncountable)

1. stress

Declension