| 释义 |
▪ I. † hight, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 3–4 hiht, 3–5 hiȝt (-e), 3–6 hight, (4 hit); Sc. 4–5 hicht 4–6 hecht, (5 heycht, height, heght).
[f. hight v.1: a northern form (instead of the original OE. hát, ME. hote); after 15th c. only Sc. Cf. behight n.]
1. A command, order.
a1300Cursor M. 19330 (Edin.) We..ȝiu forbede þurȝ þe hiȝte of bissophede, þat ȝie in name of þat ihesu Be noȝte to preche sa bald. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Petrus 335 Cristis hecht for to fulfill, Þan paul to Rome com petir till.
2. A promise; a vow.
a1300Cursor M. 785 Þis hight..was ful fals and fikel. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Machor 1162 His hicht þat he mad to me. c1400Apol. Loll. 4 Aftir his hiȝt and couenaund. c1425Wyntoun Cron. viii. xviii. 12 In þat Heycht he wes noucht lele. c1470Harding Chron. clxxiv. xi, He hight the Kyng..& held nothing his hight. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 23 Oft syis fair hechtis makis fuillis fane. 1609Skene Reg. Maj. 30 Ane donation is vnderstand, to be ane hecht or bair promise, rather then ane trew or effectuall gift. 1808–25Jamieson, Hecht, heycht..this word is still used, Lothian. [1862A. Hislop Prov. Scotl. 59 Fair hechts mak fools fain.]
▪ II. † hight, highth, n.2 Obs.
Forms: 1 híᵹð, 3 hihðe, 4 hihte, (hithte), 5 hyȝt.
[OE. híᵹð, f. híᵹian to hie, with suffix -th later -t after gh; cf. height.]
Exertion, impetuosity, haste.
c1050Gloss. in Zsch. für deutsches Alterth. XXXI. 14 Acutis nisibus, mid scearpum hiᵹðum. a1225Ancr. R. 324 Schrift schal beon on hihðe imaked. a1225Julianna 77 Þe reue..leup for hihðe wið lut men into a bat. a1310in Wright Lyric P. 110 For non hithte that he hath ne sytht me hym ner shake. c1450Myrc 559 Wheþer þe wordes were seyde a-ryȝt, And not turnet in þat hyȝt.
▪ III. † hight, n.3 Obs.
Forms: 1 hyht, (hiht), 2 huht |-y-|, 3 Orm. hihht, hiȝt(e.
[OE. hyht:—OTeut. *huhti- from root hug- of hycgan to think, hope. Cf. high n.1]
Hope, glad expectation; gladness, joy.
971Blickl. Hom. 165 Ðe bið þonne hyht and ᵹefea. c1000Agrs. Ps. (Th.) cxiii. 20 [cxv. 11] Hio hyht heora habban on Drihten. c1175Lamb. Hom. 97 [He] ȝifð heom forȝifnesse and huht and heore ȝeomerinde mod iliðegað. c1200Ormin 3816 Hihht & hope o Drihhtin God. a1250Owl & Night. 272 Hit is min hiȝte, hit is mi wune. Ibid. 1101 An hadde soþþe blisse and hiȝte.
▪ IV. hight, n.4 and a.
var. of height n. and a.
▪ V. hight, v.1 arch.
Forms: see below.
[A Com. Teut vb.; orig. reduplicated: OE. hát-an, pa. tense heht, contr. hét, pl. hehton, héton, pa. pple. háten = OFris. hêta, OS. hêtan, (MLG. hêten, MDu. heeten, heiten, Du. heeten), OHG. heiȥȥan, (MHG. heiȥen, Ger. heiszen), ON. heita (Sw. heta, Da. hede), Goth. haitan, pa. tense haihait, pl. -um, pa. ppl. haitans, to call by name, to name, call to come or do something, bid, command. Of this vb. the Old Teutonic medio-passive voice, Goth. haitada, pl. haitanda (pres. t.), remained in OE. as hátte, pl. hátton (pres. and pa. tense), being the only trace of this voice in English. In the other Teutonic langs. the passive form had been lost, or rather blended with that of the active, but the sense remained, as one of the uses of the verb, which was thus both ‘to call’ and ‘to be called’. In ME. the same fate befell the passive form, so that here also the active hoten, hight, came to be both ‘to call’ and ‘to be called’, the latter being the chief use in later times. In addition to this curious confusion, the active forms themselves suffered a remarkable series of changes, resulting finally in the entire loss of the present stem, and the substitution of that of the pa. tense. The original pres. háte and pa. pple. háten regularly became in ME. hôte, hôte(n (to c 1456), northern hāte, hāte(n. The redupl. pa. tense heht. (Goth. haihait = *hehait) gave ME. heȝt, hiht, hight; the contracted hét gave ME. hēt, heet, hete (to c 1470). Thus, the normal ME. inflexion was hote, hēt or hight, hote(n; but this was, from an early date, disturbed by the influence of ‘levelling’, and of various assumed analogies. From c 1200 the anomalous pa. tense heht often took, like the weak vbs., final -e, the loss of which, however, in 15th c., again made the form hight. About 1300, the pres. t. took (in midl. dial.) the vowel of the past, and became hete, heet(e, which survived to the 16th c. Farther north, the pres. assumed the form of the redupl. pa. tense, and became hight, hicht, hecht, still extant in Sc. in sense ‘promise’. Both forms of the pa. tense hēt and hight also passed over into the pa. pple., where hight is still a wellknown archaism. Dialectally, or by individual writers, this is extended as highted. There are various other anomalies; for which see the Forms below. The only parts of the vb. which remain in literary use are the pa. pple. hight ‘called’, and the kindred pa. tense hight ‘was called’, both conscious archaisms unknown to ordinary prose. In the dialects other forms and senses survive.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
1. Present stem. (α) 1 hát-, 2–5 hāt-, 3–5 hȏt-, (3 hoat-, 5 hoot-).
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. Pret. 3 ælfred kyning hateð gretan Wærferð biscep. Ibid. lviii. 443 Dryhten hwæt hætst ðu me don? c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xiv. 28 Hat me cuman to þe [Lindisf. G. haat meh ᵹecumæ to ðe]. c1050Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 303 Þæt ᵹer þe man hæt solaris. c1175Lamb. Hom. 15 God almihtin þe hat don þin god on-ȝein his uuel. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 201 Alle bileffulle ich hote þus waken. a1225Ancr. R. 186 So hat owr ueder ou. 1258Eng. Proclam. Hen. III, I. 6 We willen and hoaten þæt alle vre treowe heom healden dead⁓liche ifcan. c1320R. Brunne Medit. 240 Thys y ȝow hote. 14..Wyclif's Deut. xxiii. 23 marg., Of him that hootith, and fulfillith it not. c1440Promp. Parv. 249/2 Hotyn or make beheste, promitto. c1475Assembl. Ladies 689 Now good, tell on, I hate you, by saynt Jame.
(β) ? 3, 4–6 hete, 5–6 heete, (? 3, 4–5 heit).
a1300Cursor M. 5427 Heit [Fairf. hete] me truli, wit couenand. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 148 His help I ȝow hete. c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 236 But oon auow to grete god I heete [v.r. hete]. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 72 Oylle of mercy I can hym heyt. Ibid. 74 A child to bere thou me hetys, How shuld it be? 1549–62Sternhold & H. Ps. cxix. 76 As thou to me thy seruant hetest.
(γ) 3–4 hiht, hiȝt, 4– hight, (4 hite, hyte, 4–5 hyght, 5 hiȝte); Sc. 4– hicht, hecht, (4–5 hycht, 5–6 heght, 6 heycht).
a1300Cursor M. 5431 (Cott.) Truli now i þe hight [Gött. hite]. Ibid. 24890 (Edin.) Þu sal nu hiht and vow me her. a1340Hampole Psalter Prol. 21 Hyghtand ioy til ryghtwismen. 1375Barbour Bruce xii. 318, I hecht heir, in my lawte. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5782 Here I hight amendement. c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) iii. 34 And hecht thame giftis, howbeid ȝe gif thame nocht. 1565Golding Ovid's Met. vii. (1593) 169 And as for leach, was none that helpe could hight. 1674Ray N.C. Words 25 To Hight (Cumb.), to promise or vow. 1789Burns 5 Carlines xi, He wadna hecht them courtly gifts..But he wad hecht an honest heart. 1872Blackie Lays Highl. 3 Molaise..Hights me go, and I obey.
2. Past tense. (α) strong 1 heht, 3 hieȝt, (heitt), 4 heȝt, heycht, hiȝt, 4–5 hight; also weak 2–3 hehte, 3 hæhte, hahte, hætte, heitte, 3–4 hihte, 3–5 hiȝte, 4–5 highte, hyghte, 5 heȝte, heghte; undetermined 6– hight, (hyght), Sc. hecht, (heght).
a1000Andreas 365 (Gr.) He heht englas him to cuman. c1175Lamb. Hom. 121 Summe..hehten hine aredan. a1200Moral Ode 268 Al þet þe laþe gast hechte to. c1250Meid. Maregrete viii, E heitt hem aquelle. Ibid. lv, Olibrius heitte þe mai ut of prisun don. c1250Gen. & Ex. 218 And hieȝt him ded he sulde ben. a1300Cursor M. 15660 Has þou nu al forgeten þat þou hight. c1300Harrow. Hell 231 That I hihte the In the old lawe, thou dudest me. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 9 As þe kyng hihte. 1375Barbour Bruce x. 262 He his man hecht for till be. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Symon & Judas 122 He heycht to mend his stat. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 101 Þat he hiȝt hem graciously. c1440York Myst. xliv. 49 He highte vs fro harme for to hyde. c1440Gesta Rom. lxv. 284 Þe porter hiȝte for to do it. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 8180 Wele he hight, bot euyl did he. 1460J. Capgrave Chron. 265 Notwithstanding that the kyng hite him this, he vas exiled. 1557Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 249 Hopefull youth that higth me health. 1578Ps. li. in Scot. Poems 16th C. II. 114 Thou heght to Abraham anone, Isack his eldest son. 1793Burns Meg o' the Mill 9 The Miller he hecht her a heart leal and loving. [1841hight: see B. 5 b γ]
(β) strong 1 hét, 2–4 hēt, 4–5 heet, hett; also 3 heitt, (? weak), 3 heitte, 4 hete, 4–5 hette.
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xii. [xiv.] (1890) 194 Þæs þe hine slean het. a1000Cædmon's Gen. 2613 (Gr.) He het his naman Adam. c1175Lamb. Hom. 7 Þe witeȝa het þet we sculde makien his stiȝes. c1290Beket 806 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 129 Heo heten him don heom sikernesse. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 275 Þre days trewe þe Inglis him hete. 13..Guy Warw. (A.) 204 To him he cleped Gij, And him hete and comandi. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 448 Loke, Gawan, þou be grayþe to go as þou hettez. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 271 Enuye..heet freres to go to scole. 1393Ibid. C. ii. 17 He het þe elementes to helpe ȝow alle tymes. c1430Syr Tryam. 1043 When thou haste done that thou hett. 1460Lybeaus Disc. 206 Kyng Artour.. Hette of the table rounde Four the beste knyghtes..Arme Lybeaus.
(γ) erron. 6 hote.
1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. July 164 A shepheard trewe, yet not so true, as he that earst I hote.
3. Pa. pple. (α) 1 (ᵹe)háten, 2–3 (ȝe-, i-)haten, 3–4 haten, 4–5 hate; 2–6 (ȝe-, y-, i-)hoten, (y-, i-)hote.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. i. §1 Ða wæs sum consul..Boetius wæs haten. c975Rushw. Gosp. Matt. xxvii. 16 Monn se wæs haten barrabas [Hatt. G. ȝehaten]. 1154O.E. Chron. an. 1132 An prior of S' Neod, Martin was ȝehaten. c1175Cott. Hom. 219 Heo was ȝehoten leoht berinde. c1175Lamb. Hom. 97 He is ihate on grekisc paraclitus. c1200Ormin 5200 He wass hatenn Helyseow. c1205Lay. 3156 Þe kinge of Bruttaine þe Leir is haten. c1250Meid. Maregrete i, Ðe vie of one meidan was hoten Maregrete. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 80 A lordyng of þe Romaynes, þat y hote was Galle. a1300K. Horn 201 Horn ihc am ihote. a1300Cursor M. 14503 His nam was haten caiphas. Ibid. 19465 Þat ilk þat þan was hate saul. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 61 A wiht þat wrong is I-hote. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Johannes 65 Þat hatine wes deme drusiane. c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 21 His name was hoote [v.r. hoten] deynous Symkyn. 1390Gower Conf. I. 55 A lord, whiche Phorceus Was hote. c1400Solomon's Bk. Wisd. 156 He was yhote Ionas. 1513Douglas æneis iii. i. 25 Our friendlie goddis, Penates hait [rime estait]. a1643W. Cartwright Ordinary iii. i. in Hazl. Dodsley XII. 255 Aldersgate Is hoten so from one that Aldrick hight.
(β) 3–5 hatten (-in), 4–5 hatte. Chiefly north.[? from the passive form hatte, or shortened from hāten.] a1300Cursor M. 9545 (Cott.) Þe toþer was hatten sothfastnes. 1375Barbour Bruce xiv. 376 Thomas of dwn hattyn wess he. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 97 Þe tour is i-cleped and hatte Babel. a1400Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. (1867) 11 The secunde dedely synne es hattene enuy. c1450St. Cuthbert 6827 His name was hattyn cuthrede.
(γ) 4 heiten, heit, hete, hett(e, 4–5 (9 dial.) het.
a1300Cursor M. 1524 (Cott.) Sco was heiten [v.r. cald(e] noema. Ibid. 14783 (Gött.) Ouþer es he prophete, Or crist himself to man es hete. c1340Ibid. 2658 (Trin.) As I bifore haue hette [v.rr. hight, heȝt, hith] to þe. Ibid. 12820 (Trin.) Þat longe was hett [v. rr. hight, hiȝt] now comen es. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 39 So have I het. 1855Waugh Lanc. Life (1857) 65 A lawm, fause owd felly, het an elder.
(δ) ? 3, 4— hight, (4 heȝt, hiht, hith, hite, 4–5 hiȝt, -e, hyȝt, yhight, yhyȝt, ihight, 4–6 hyght, 5 height, Sc. 4— hicht, hecht, 7 heght).
a1300Cursor M. 1276 (Cott.) Þe oile me was hight [v.rr. heȝt, het]o merci. Ibid. 2590 (Gött.) As it was hite bifor þas dais. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 107 [God] has hight him yit þar to Þe blise of heven. c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 540 O hous of housses, whilom best yhight! c1386― Frankl. T. 595 Wel ye woot what ye han hight [v.rr. hyȝt, hiȝt, hiht]. a1400Pistill of Susan 14 He hed a wif hiȝt Susan. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 449, I sall hald that I haue hecht. 1513Douglas æneis i. i. 19 Thair was ane anciant ciete hecht Cartage. 1563in B. Googe's Eglogs etc. (Arb.) 81 Happye (Googe) he maye be hyght. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 59 An auncient booke, hight Briton moniments. a1605Montgomerie Flyting 451 Wee haue heght to Mahoun, for hand⁓sell, this hair. 1664Butler Hud. ii. iii. 106 A cunning man, hight Sidrophel. 1812Byron Ch. Har. i. iii, Childe Harold was he hight. 1863Baring-Gould Iceland 116 A glen which..has been hight the Vale of Shadows.
(ε) 4 *hehted, (hethede), 6–7 highted, Sc. 8–9 hechted.
c1300Havelok 551 Hwan þe swike him hauede hethede, Þat he shulde him forth lede. 1583Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 77 For those plats Strophades in languadge Greekish ar highted. 1602W. Fulbecke Pandectes 83 So Arsaces..was..highted a lawfull king. a1833J. Ballantyne in Whistle-Binkie (Scot. Songs) Ser. i. 33 Mony big loons hae hechted to wyle her awa.
4. Passive: see B. 5.
B. Signification.
I. trans.
†1. To command, bid; to order, ordain. Constr. with person and thing, or pers. and inf. or clause; also with thing only, and absol. Obs.
a900Charter (Th.) 47 (Bosw.) [He] heht ðæt he cuome to him. c1000ælfric Hom. I. 394 We dydon swa swa ðu us hete. ― Gram. xxi. (Z.) 125 Mid ðam ᵹemete we hatað oðre menn don sum ðing. Ibid., Gehwa hæt oðerne, na hyne sylfne. c1175Lamb. Hom. 31 Þenne þe preost hine hat aȝefen þa ehte. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 211 He ne wile don þat god him het..and doð þat þe deuel het. c1275Lay. 31552 We beoþ icome ase þou hauest i-hote. a1300Vox & Wolf 36 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 59 Be stille, ich hote, a Godes nome! c1300Beket 2039 (Percy) We hoteþ þe ek in his half þat þu assoilli also Þe Bischop [etc.]. c1350Will. Palerne 1082 [He] het hem alle hiȝe þider as harde as þei miȝt. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 17 He hihte þe eorþe to seruen ow vchone. Ibid. iii. 9 Corteisliche þe Clerk þo as þe kyng hihte, Tok þe Mayden bi þe Middel. 1377Ibid. B. ii. 218 He was..Ouer al yhowted and yhote trusse. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 411 Ȝif þe prince of þe lond hote, Briddes syngeþ wiþ mery note. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys Introd. (Roxb.) 5 Lete hem be hete Thedyr to bere and there to lete The same thyng. 14..Stac. Rome 804 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 141 He hett also that men shoulde to chyrche goo. 1872[see A. 1 γ].
†b. To bid come, call, summon. (Only in OE. and arch. in Spenser.) Obs.
a1000Daniel 532 Ða wæs to ðam dome Daniel haten. 1591Spenser Daphn. 11 Ne let the Sacred Sisters here be hight, Though they of sorrowe heavilie can sing.
2. To promise, to vow; to pledge oneself. (Constr. as in 1.) Obs. exc. Sc.
a900Cynewulf Juliana 53 Gif þu to sæmran gode..hætsð hæþen-weoh. c1200Ormin 4922 Þatt tatt icc het Drihhtin. c1205Lay. 23384 Ȝet ich wulle haten mare. c1250Gen. & Ex. 4098 Ðe lond hoten sal hem ben giuen. a1300Cursor M. 5429 (Gött.) Hite me treuli þu þi selue Sal me wid min eldris delue. c1340Cursor M. 3886 (Fairf.) Þou sal haue rachel as I þe hiȝt. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Baptista 1022 Bath gold and fe Hechtand hyme in-to plente. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 30 We þat hoten grete avowis to voiden..siiknessis. c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 236 Oon auow to grete god I heete. c1400Mandeville Pref. (Roxb.) 2 Þis es þe land þat es hight til vs in heritage. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 44 That he may fle Esaw, That us bothe hetes bale to brew. c1470Harding Chron. clxviii. vi, Ever y⊇ kyng Edward hight men greate hyre Hym for to take. 1577–87Harrison England i. vii. in Holinshed 15 He was so desperatelie wounded, that no man hight him life. 1724Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) II. 182 Rob my eem hecht me a stock. 1829in Chambers Scott. Songs 40 Hope aye hechts his safe return.
†3. parenthetical. To assure (one that it is as one says): cf. ‘I promise you.’ Obs.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 402 Maysterful mod & hyȝe pryde I hete þe arn heterly hated here. c1350Will. Palerne 1123 So harde þei hiȝed þan, i hote þe for soþe. 1375Barbour Bruce vii. 156 The kyng, that hungry wes, I hicht. c1420Pallad. on Husb. iii. 936 Also this y yow hete I preued haue. 1501Douglas Pal. Hon. i. xxxiii, Baith aixtree and quheillis of gold, I hote. 1515Scot. Field 257 in Chetham Misc. (1856) II, I will wynde you to wreke, wees, I you heete.
4. To call, to name. (Now only in pa. pple.). arch.
c893K. ælfred Oros. i. i. §17 Ða deor hi hataþ hranas. c1175Lamb. Hom. 77 Þu scald..bere knaue child, and haten hit helend. c1205Lay. 2857 To hire he hefde loue, and læfdi heo hehte. a1225Juliana 55 Sathanas þat tu leuest upon & ti feader hatest. c1350Will. Palerne 405 Þat menskful mayde Melior was hoten. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 477 A bischop hight Eugenius. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 145 Emanuelle is hete His name for to lere. 1580Sidney Ps. xxiv. vi, Even He the King of glory hight. 1583Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 26 Thee Romans of his owne name, Romulus, highting. 1605Verstegan Dec. Intell. (1634) 83 The nether Saxons are hight now Friesians. 1807–8W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 83 A little pest, hight Tommy Moore. 1845Hood Recipe Civiliz. 39 Look at the polish'd nations hight The civilized.
II. intr.: in origin medio-passive.
5. To call oneself, be called, have or bear the name. (Now only in the archaic pa. tense hight.)
a. (a) Orig. in forms repr. the OTeut. passive, Goth. pres. t. haitada, -anda. Pres. and pa. tense 1 hátte, pl. -on, 2–5 hatte, pl. -en, 4–5 hette, hatt, hat, hett. The forms with e were prob. influenced by those in b (β).
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. lviii. 445 On ðæm bocum ðe hatton Apocalipsin. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xiii. 55 Hu ne hatte hys modor Maria? c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 13 Þe six werkes of brihtnesse hatten þus. Ibid. 89 Bethfage..hatte þe þrop. a1300Cursor M. 3948 ‘Tel me nam’, he said, ‘quat es þin?’ ‘Iacob i hatt’ [v.rr. hate, het]. Ibid. 14218 Thomas þat hette didimus. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 22 Oxen hate þe toun, þer þe body felle. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xvi. 15 Herte hatte þe [h]erber þat it in groweth. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. i. (Tollem. MS.), A man hat [1535 hight, 1582 is called] antrapos in Grew. c1430Chev. Assigne 232 Betryce she hette. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 377 Hardebrechins þe cite hatte. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 8 A good yoman my master hat.
(b) Extended to infinitive; and sometimes in indicative with person-endings.
c1250Gen & Ex. 813 Ðat burȝe..atteð cariatharbe. a1300Cursor M. 3948 (Cott.) Iacob ya, Sal þou na langer hetten [v.rr. hat, be cald] sua. c1340Ibid. 2650 (Trin.) And seide þou hettest now abrahame. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 365 Zacarie..tolde what þe child shulde hatte. c1400Destr. Troy 4257 Not Delphon but Doels sum demyt hit to het. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 74 Godes son shalle he hat [rime that].
b. Already in OE. the passive infinitive had to be supplied by the active hátan, ME. hȏten, north. hāte; and from an early date in ME., the passive forms began to yield to the corresponding active ones: (α) in Pres. t. 1 hátan, 3–5 hȏte(n, north. 3–5 hāte, (4–6 hait). (By Spenser also erroneously in pa. tense) (β) in pa. tense het, hete; later also in pres. t. (γ) in pa. tense highte (etc.), later hight (the only part still in archaic use). (δ) From 14th to 18th c. hight was extended to the pres. t. (sometimes with person-endings), and to the infinitive.
αa1000Cædmon's Gen. 344 Se hehsta hatan sceolde Satan siððan. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 127 Þis child shal hoten godes prophete. a1300Cursor M. 4752 (Cott.) In þe flum þat hait þe nile. Ibid. 2650 (Gött.) And said he suld hate [v.rr. hatte, hat] abraham. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iii. 31 Filius dei he hoteþ. a1400Arthur 613 Now hyt hooteþ Glastyngbury. c15111st Eng. Bk. Amer. (Arb.) Introd. 28/1 Oon aforemontayen and hooth caput viride. 1513Douglas æneis i. Prol. 244 That in the text of Virgill..Hait Deiphebe. Ibid. ii. 58 Quhilkis, eist, south, and waist wyndis hait [v.r. hate] with ws. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 194 Lowder (for so his dog hote). 1590― F.Q. i. xi. 29 It rightly hot The well of life.
βa1175Cott. Hom. 227 His sune hete arfaxat. a1300K. Horn 9 Godhild het his quen. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 115 In þat mount was þe litel strete of preostes, þat heet Be[th]phage. c1425Eng. Conq. Irel. (E.E.T.S.) 1 [An] heighe man in Irland, þat het dermond Macmorgh. 1470–85Malory Arthur vii. ii, What heteth your lady and where dwelleth she?
γa1225Juliana 5 Hire fleschliche feader affrican hehte. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 67/6 Þat heiȝte Maximian. a1300Cursor M. 633 (Cott.) Þar for hight [v.r. heȝt] sco virago. a1300Ibid. 2594 (Gött.) Sare..had..an hand womman þat agar hite. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 9426 Sire Bertel þen hat þat on, Þat oþer heyghte sire Iordan. c1386Chaucer Prol. 719 At this gentil hostelrye That highte [v.rr. hyȝte, hiht] the Tabard. 1480Caxton Descr. Brit. 13 Bathe highte sommetyme Athamannus Cyte. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 314 The quene of eest-Englande saynt Heryswith she hyght. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 6 In Grece..duelt ane king, the quhilk hecht æalus. 1663Butler Hud. i. i. 152 In School-Divinity as able As he that hight Irrefragable. 1714Gay Sheph. Week ii. 20 A Lass that Cic'ly hight, had won his Heart. 1841Longfellow Childr. Lord's Supper 48 Father he hight and he was in the parish.
δc1340Cursor M. 3946 (Fairf.) Tel me man quat þou hiȝt. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 423 That highten Balades, Roundels, Virelayes. c1386― Knt.'s T. 699 But ther as I was wont to highte Arcite, Now highte I Philostrate noght worth a myte. c1430Syr. Gener. 1665 ‘What dooth he hight’, she seid, ‘Madame?’ c1440York Myst. xxvi. 225 What hytist thou? 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. clxiii. 201 Sir, sayde he, I hyght Iohan of Helenes, but what is your name? a1536Calisto & Mel. in Hazl. Dodsley I. 56 Sem. What hight she? Cal. Melibæa is her name. 1600Fairfax Tasso i. Argt. 1 He sends them to the fort that Sion hights. a1610Healey Cebes (1636) 122 Shee that teareth her hayre, hight Sorrow. 1641Prynne Antip. 154 Hightest thou Vrse? Have thou Gods curse. a1643W. Cartwright Ordinary ii. ii. in Hazl. Dodsley XII. 241 How highteth she, say you?
¶ III. 6. Used by Spenser as a pseudo-archaism in various senses not otherwise exemplified: a. to direct; b. to commit; c. to name, designate, mention; d. to mean, purport.
1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. July 164 A shepherd trewe, yet not so true As he that earst I hote. Ibid. Sept. 172 Say it out, Diggon, what euer it hight, For not but well mought him betight. 1590― F.Q. i. iv. 6 Yet charge of them was to a Porter hight. 1596Ibid. iv. x. 38 An hundred brasen caudrons bright..Every of which was to a damzell hight. Ibid. v. xi. 8 But the sad steele seizd not, where it was hight, Uppon the childe, but somewhat short did fall. Ibid. vi. vii. 31 She could or save or spill whom she would hight.
Hence † ˈhighting (heting, hetting, hoting, hechting), vbl. n. Obs., bidding or promising; concr. a promise, a vow.
a1300Cursor M. 785 (Gött.) Þis heting..was bath fals and fikil. Ibid. 792 (Gött.) Sum of þe hoting was gain sau. a1340Hampole Psalter xxiv. 11 Þai ere witnes of his hightynge. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 33 God is trewe in his heetynge. c1440York Myst. xlviii. 201 My hetyng haly schall I fulfille. a1500Knt. & Wife 47 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 18 This knyȝt ..thouȝt to fulfyl his hettynge. a1575Diurn. Occurr. (1833) 300 He promittit in hechting to caus the toun men doe or die.
▪ VI. † hight, v.2 Obs.
In 1 hyhtan, 3 hiȝten.
[OE. hyhtan, f. hyht hight n.3]
intr. To hope, anticipate something with hope or joy; to rejoice, exult.
c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) lxxxiii[i]. 2 Heorte min and flæsc hyhtað ᵹeorne, on þone lifᵹendan leofan Drihten. Ibid. xc[i]. 14 He hyhte to me. a1250Owl & Night. 437 Ech wiȝt is glad for mine þinge..And hiȝteþ aȝen mine kume.
▪ VII. † hight, v.3 Obs.
Forms: 2–3 hihten, huihten, 4–5 hiȝte(n, 5 hyght, heyghte, 7 hight.
[Early ME. huihten, hihten, of doubtful origin.
Perh., like prec., a deriv. of hyht, hight n.3, in sense ‘to make joyous or delightful’: cf. hightle v., hightly.]
trans. To beautify, adorn, embellish, set off.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 71 We shule..noht mid faire worde hihten þo ateliche sinnes. Ibid. 89 Þat burh folc hihten þe heȝe strete and bihengen it mid palmes. Ibid. 195 Alle þos wennen huihten his wurðshipe. 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 728 Þe hauter of he[r]cules alle ȝe hihten. c1374Chaucer Boeth. i. metr. ii. 4 (Camb. MS.) The lusty howres of the fyrst somer seson þat hyhteth [v.r. hiȝteþ] and aparaileth the Erthe with rosene flowres. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 217 An hous i-made wel nyh al of gold and i-hiȝt wiþ precious stones. 1398― Barth. De P.R. ii. v. (1495) 31 By theyr presence al that is in heuen and in erthe is wonderfully hyghted. 1633T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter iii. 12 His land shall be husbanded, his house highted, his garments brushed.
Hence highting vbl. n.; highter, an adorner or embellisher.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 7 Faire florischers and hiȝteres of wordes and of metre. Ibid. II. 313 By cause of þe more hiȝtinge and fairenesse [causa ornatus dignioris].
▪ VIII. hight v.4
obs. var. of height v. |