hight

[ hahyt ]

/ haɪt /

adjective

Archaic. called or named: Childe Harold was he hight.

Nearby words

highly strung, highmore's body, highness, highroad, highsmith, hight, hightail, hightail it, highty-tighty, highveld, highwall

Origin of hight

before 900; Middle English; Old English heht, reduplicated preterit of hātan to name, call, promise, command (cognate with German heissen to call, be called, mean); akin to behest

Definition for hight (2 of 3)

hight

[ hahyt ]

/ haɪt /

noun

height.

Definition for hight (3 of 3)

height

or hight

[ hahyt ]

/ haɪt /

noun

extent or distance upward: The balloon stopped rising at a height of 500 feet.

distance upward from a given level to a fixed point: the height from the ground to the first floor; the height of an animal at the shoulder.

the distance between the lowest and highest points of a person standing upright; stature: She is five feet in height.

considerable or great altitude or elevation: the height of the mountains.

Often heights.

a high place above a level; a hill or mountain: They stood on the heights overlooking the valley.
the highest part; top; apex; summit: In his dreams he reached the heights.

the highest point; utmost degree: the height of power; the height of pleasure.

Archaic. high rank in social status.

Origin of height

before 900; Middle English; Old English hīehtho. See high, -th¹

SYNONYMS FOR height

3 tallness. Height, altitude, elevation refer to distance above a level. Height denotes extent upward (as from foot to head) as well as any measurable distance above a given level: The tree grew to a height of ten feet. They looked down from a great height. Altitude usually refers to the distance, determined by instruments, above a given level, commonly mean sea level: altitude of an airplane. Elevation implies a distance to which something has been raised or uplifted above a level: a hill's elevation above the surrounding country, above sea level.

5 prominence.

6 peak, pinnacle; acme, zenith; culmination.

ANTONYMS FOR height

1, 2 depth.

Can be confused

altitude elevation height (see synonym study at the current entry)

Usage note

Height, and not heighth, is considered the standard English form for this word.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hight

Nervous as a horse when wolves are near, I scent danger, and pack my box ready for Hight without being able to decide on it.
The Inferno|August Strindberg
The elder of the two was Killbuck, of mountain fame; the other was hight La Bont.
In the Old West|George Frederick Ruxton
And as to the name of our said city, it hight the City of the Stark-wall, or more shortly, Stark-wall.
The Wood Beyond the World|William Morris
SIR, said she, there was a king that hight Pelles, the maimed king.
Le Morte D'Arthur, Volume II (of II)|Thomas Malory

Arriving at the hight, he stood still by the side of the Seven Oaks, which had once been the glory of his country home.
Sevenoaks|J. G. Holland

British Dictionary definitions for hight (1 of 2)

hight

/ (haɪt) /

verb

(tr; used only as a past tense in the passive or as a past participle) archaic, poetic to name; calla maid hight Mary

Word Origin for hight

Old English heht, from hatan to call; related to Old Norse heita, Old Frisian hēta, Old High German heizzan

British Dictionary definitions for hight (2 of 2)

height

/ (haɪt) /

noun

the vertical distance from the bottom or lowest part of something to the top or apex

the vertical distance of an object or place above the ground or above sea level; altitude

relatively great altitude or distance from the bottom to the top

the topmost point; summit

astronomy the angular distance of a celestial body above the horizon

the period of greatest activity or intensitythe height of the battle

an extreme example of its kindthe height of rudeness

(often plural) an area of high ground

(often plural) the state of being far above the groundI don't like heights

(often plural) a position of influence, fame, or powerthe giddy heights they occupied in the 1980s

Word Origin for height

Old English hīehthu; related to Old Norse hǣthe, Gothic hauhitha, Old High German hōhida; see high

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for hight

height

[ hīt ]

n.

The distance from the base of something to the top.

Stature, especially of the human body.