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sight

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ-der.
Proto-Germanic *sehwaną
Proto-West Germanic *sehwan
Proto-Indo-European *-tis
Proto-Germanic *-þiz
Proto-West Germanic *-þi
Proto-West Germanic *sihti
Old English sihþ
Middle English sighte
English sight

    From Middle English sighte, from Old English sihþ (“something seen; vision”), from Proto-West Germanic *sihti (“seeing, sight”), equivalent to see +‎ -t.

    Cognates

    Cognate with Cimbrian gazicht (“sight, vision; pupil”), Dutch gezicht (“face; sight, vision”), zicht (“sight, vision”), German Gesicht (“face; sight, vision”), Sicht (“view; sight; visibility”), Luxembourgish Gesiicht (“face”), Siicht (“view; sight”), Yiddish געזיכט (gezikht, “face”), Danish sigt (“sight; visibility”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk sikt (“visibility”), Swedish sikt (“visibility”), sikte (“sight”).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    sight (countable and uncountable, plural sights)

    1. (uncountable) The sense or faculty by which objects are perceived through the agency of light; the sense by which we see.
      Synonyms: vision; see also Thesaurus:vision
      Sight is a precious gift.
      He is losing his sight and now can barely read.
    2. An act, instance, opportunity or possibility of seeing; the perception of objects by the eye; view (see also idiomatic expressions such as in sight, out of sight, catch sight of, etc.)
      The sight of him in his new uniform made us all proud.
      I need to have sight of the certificate before proceeding.
      to gain sight of land, to lose sight of the aircraft
    3. Something seen.
      Synonyms: view, vision
      The sight in front of me seemed somehow familiar.
    5. (often in the plural) Something worth seeing; a spectacle, either good or bad.
      We went to London and saw all the sights – Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, and so on.
      You really look a sight in that ridiculous costume!
    6. (often in the plural) A device used in aiming a projectile, through which the person aiming looks at the intended target; see also in one's sights.
      Synonyms: peep sight, scope
      • 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 236d:
        He's a really remarkable man and it's very hard to get him in one's sights; […]
    7. A small aperture through which objects are to be seen, and by which their direction is settled or ascertained.
      the sight of a quadrant
    8. (now colloquial) a great deal, a lot; frequently used to intensify a comparative.
      Synonyms: brimful, load, ton; see also Thesaurus:lot
      a sight of money
      This is a darn sight better than what I'm used to at home!
    9. In a drawing, picture, etc., that part of the surface, as of paper or canvas, which is within the frame or the border or margin. In a frame, the open space, the opening.
    10. (obsolete) The instrument of seeing; the eye.
    11. Mental view; opinion; judgment.
      Synonyms: determination, mind, view; see also Thesaurus:judgement
      In their sight it was harmless.

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    Verb

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    sight (third-person singular simple present sights, present participle sighting, simple past and past participle sighted)

    1. (transitive) To see; to get sight of (something); to register visually.
      to sight land from a ship
      1. (transitive) To observe through, or as if through, a sight, to check the elevation, direction, levelness, or other characteristics of, especially when surveying or navigating.
        • 1912, John Herbert Farrell, Alfred Joseph Moses, Practical Field Geology, page 30:
          Next a point of known elevation, preferably one of the triangulation stations, is sighted; the vertical angle is read and the horizontal distance is scaled from the point of the setup on the map to the point sighted.
    2. (transitive) To apply sights to; to adjust the sights of.
      to sight a rifle or a cannon
    3. (transitive, intransitive) To observe or aim (at something) using a (gun) sight.
      • 2005 August 2, C. J. Cherryh, The Deep Beyond, Penguin, →ISBN:
        Jim braced the gun and sighted, tried to pull the trigger. Beside him a body collapsed, limp. It was Max. A shot had gone through his brain. Jim stared down at him, numb with horror.
      • 2009, James Wright, FBI: Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity : an Autobiography, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 27:
        So I sighted the deer with my .30—30 and fired at him. The bullet hit about ten yards below the deer. I realized that I had a problem with the gun so I aimed about ten yards above the deer as he was running and he dropped dead on the [spot].
      • 2010 October 6, Bryce M. Towsley, Gunsmithing Made Easy: Projects for the Home Gunsmith, Skyhorse Publishing Inc., →ISBN:
        This buck was finally mine. I had spent hours shooting at moving targets with that rifle and there was no way I could miss. I raised my gun and sighted through the scope.

    Synonyms

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    Derived terms

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    Translations

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    See also

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    Anagrams

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    Middle English

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    Noun

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    sight

    1. a great deal, a lot
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