Link Centre Dictionary

smite

UK/smaɪt/ uncommon archaic rare

verb

1.

inflict a heavy blow on, with the hand, a tool, or a weapon

2.

affect suddenly with deep feeling

  • “He was smitten with love for this young girl”
3.

cause pain or suffering in

  • “afflict with the plague”
  • “That debasement of the verbal currency that afflicts terms used in advertisement”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English smiten, from Old English smītan (“to daub, smear, smudge; soil, defile, pollute”), from Proto-West Germanic *smītan, from Proto-Germanic *smītaną (“to sling; throw; smear”), from Proto-Indo-European *smeyd- (“to smear, whisk, strike, rub”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian smiete (“to throw, toss”), West Frisian smite (“to throw”), Dutch smijten (“to fling, hurl, throw”), German Low German smieten (“to throw, chuck, toss”), German schmeißen (“to fling, throw”), Danish smide (“to throw”), Swedish smita (“to run off (to)”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌼𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (bismeitan, “to besmear, anoint”).

Phrases

  • smite hip and thigh

Related words

Word family

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.