/daɪt/, [dʌɪt]
OriginFrom Middle English dighten, dihten, (also dyten, from whence dite), from Old English dihtan, dihtian (“to set in order; dispose; arrange; appoint; direct; compose”), from Proto-West Germanic *dihtōn (“to compose; invent”), of disputed origin. Possibly from a derivative of Proto-Germanic *dīkaną (“to arrange; create; perform”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵ-, *dʰeyǵʰ- (“to knead; shape; mold; build”), influenced by Latin dictāre; or perhaps from Latin dictāre (“to dictate”) itself. See dictate; and also parallel formations in German dichten, Dutch dichten, Swedish dikta.
- archaic, rareAdorned, decorated, or furnished (with); dressed, arrayed, or decked out.
“Right against the eastern gate, / Where the great sun begins his state, / Robed in flames, and amber light, / The clouds in thousand liveries dight[…].”
“[…]the veil lifted and discovered beneath it fifty horsemen, ravening lions to the sight, in steel armour dight.”
“[…]nor is there found, in sea or on land, a sweeter or pleasanter of gifts than she; for she is prime in comeliness and seemlihead of face and symmetrical shape of perfect grace; her cheek is ruddy di”
- obsolete, transitiveTo deal with; to handle.
- archaic, transitiveTo adorn, decorate or furnish; to dress, array, or deck out.
“[…]It sways upon a billow foam-befrilled, / Dighted with precious gems[…]”
- archaic, transitiveTo make ready; to prepare.
- obsolete, transitiveFinely.
Formsdighter(comparative) · dightest(superlative) · dights(present, singular, third-person) · dighting(participle, present) · dight(participle, past) · dight(past) · dighted(participle, past) · dighted(past)