different between smite vs maul

English

Alternative forms

• smight (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English smiten, from Old English sm?tan (“to daub, smear, smudge; soil, defile, pollute”), from Proto-Germanic *sm?tan? (“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”), Low German smieten (“to throw, chuck, toss”), Dutch smijten (“to fling, hurl, throw”), Middle Low German besmitten (“to soil, sully”), German schmeißen (“to fling, throw”), Danish smide (“to throw”), Gothic ???????????????????????????????????? (bismeitan, “to besmear, anoint”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: sm?t, IPA^(key): /sma?t/
• Rhymes: -a?t

Verb

smite (third-person singular simple present smites, present participle smiting, simple past smote or smited or (obsolete) smit, past participle smitten or smote or smited or (obsolete) smit)

1. (archaic) To hit, to strike.
   • It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. […]. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.
2. To strike down or kill with godly force.
   • 1611, King James Version, Exodus 3:19–20:

     And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.
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.
   • 1688, William Wake, Preparation for Death

     Let us not mistake the goodness of God, nor imagine that because he smites us, therefore we are forsaken by him.
7. (figuratively, now only in passive) To strike with love or infatuation.

Noun

smite (plural smites)

1. (archaic, rare) A heavy blow or stroke with a weapon, tool or the hand.

Translations

Anagrams

• METIs, MSTie, Metis, Métis, STEMI, Times, e-stim, emits, i-stem, items, metis, mites, métis, setim, stime, times

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian sm?ta, from Proto-Germanic *sm?tan?, from Proto-Indo-European *smeyd-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?smit?/

Verb

smite

1. to throw
2. to fling

Inflection

Further reading

• “smite (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

English

Etymology

From Middle English malle (“mace, maul”), from Anglo-Norman mail, from Old French mail, from Latin malleus (“hammer”). Doublet of malleus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m??l/
• Rhymes: -??l
• Homophone: mall (one pronunciation)
• Homophone: moll (some accents)

Noun

maul (plural mauls)

1. A heavy long-handled hammer, used for splitting logs by driving a wedge into them, or in combat.
2. (rugby) A situation where the player carrying the ball, who must be on his feet, is held by one or more opponents, and one or more of the ball carrier's team mates bind onto the ball carrier.

Synonyms

• (weapon): club, mace

Hyponyms

• (long-handled hammer): post maul, spike maul, splitting maul
• (rugby): rolling maul

Translations

See also

• ruck
• scrum

Verb

maul (third-person singular simple present mauls, present participle mauling, simple past and past participle mauled)

1. To handle someone or something in a rough way.
2. To savage; to cause serious physical wounds (usually used of an animal).

3. (figuratively) To criticise harshly.

4. (transitive) To beat with the heavy hammer called a maul.

Translations

Related terms

• mall
• mallet

References

• maul at OneLook Dictionary Search
• maul in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Lamu, alum, luma, malu, mula

Cimbrian

Noun

maul n

1. mouth

References

• “maul” in Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Estonian

Noun

maul

1. adessive singular of magu

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

maul

1. imperative of maule