bight en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /baɪt/
Etymology
From Middle English bight, biȝt, byȝt (also bought, bowght, bouȝt; see bought), from Old English byht (“bend, angle, corner; bay, bight”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhti, from Proto-Germanic *buhtiz (“bend, curve”), from Proto-Germanic *beuganą (“to bend, bow”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to bend”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian boch, bocht, bucht (“bay, bight, gulf”), Saterland Frisian Bucht (“bay, bight, gulf”), West Frisian bocht (“bay, bight, gulf”), Dutch bocht (“bay, bight”), German Bucht (“bay, bight, gulf”), Icelandic bót (“bight, cove, small bay”); also Albanian butë (“soft, flabby”), Ukrainian бга́ти (bháty, “to crumple, twist”), Sanskrit भुज् (bhuj, “to bend, curve; to sweep”).
Meanings
-
A corner, bend, or angle; a hollow
the bight of a horse's knee
the bight of an elbow
I spied a bight of meadow some way below the roadway in an angle of the river.
1905, Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes, page 166:
- An area of sea lying between two promontories, larger than a bay, wider than a gulf.
- A bend or curve in a coastline, river, or other geographical feature.
-
A curve in a rope.
I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking.
1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| bights | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Dobies Bight · German Bight · New York Bight · Blind Bight · New York/New Jersey Bight · Bight of Biafra · Bight of Benin · The Bight · Great Australian Bight
Translations (45)
bg навито въже (curve in a rope) · mi kokoru (geography: large bay) · hu bemélyedés (bend) · bg бухта (geography: large bay) · ca badia oberta (geography: large bay) · nb bukt (geography: large bay) · mi kowhanenga (geography: large bay) · pl zagięcie (bend) · ka უბე (geography: large bay) · da bugt (geography: large bay) · io sesgo (bend) · hu öböl (geography: large bay) · pt enseada (geography: large bay) · es ensenada (geography: large bay) · hu öblösödés (bend) · hu hajlás (bend) · bg бухта (curve in a rope) · hu kanyar (bend) · ru бу́хта (geography: large bay) · hu tengeröböl (geography: large bay) · fr baie (geography: large bay) · pl skręt (curve in a rope) · nl bocht (bend) · fi mutka (bend) · nl bocht (geography: large bay) · hu szöglet (bend) · es sangradura (bend) · fi kuoppa (bend) · ru петля́ (curve in a rope) · nl lus (curve in a rope) · hu kanyarulat (bend) · fi mutka (curve in a rope) · it baia (geography: large bay) · bg чупка (bend) · de Bucht (geography: large bay) · ru изги́б (bend) · mi kokorutanga (geography: large bay) · fi lahti (geography: large bay) · hu hurok (curve in a rope) · hu hajlat (bend) · it ansa (geography: large bay) · pl zatoka (geography: large bay) · fi puhti (curve in a rope) · pl pętla (curve in a rope) · ru пе́тля (curve in a rope)