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sight

/saɪt/ noun

In Latin: visus, visitatio Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about sight at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. The sense or faculty by which objects are perceived through the agency of light; the sense by which we see.
    Sight is a precious gift.
  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.
  3. Something seen.
    The sight in front of me seemed somehow familiar.

verb

  1. To see; to get sight of (something); to register visually.
    to sight land from a ship
  2. To observe through, or as if through, a sight, to check the elevation, direction, levelness, or other characteristics of, especially when surveying or navigating.
  3. To apply sights to; to adjust the sights of.
    to sight a rifle or a cannon

Origin

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”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)