Word.ws English Dictionary

mought

UK/maʊt/

mought is the alternative form of might.

mought is the past participle of may.

Meaning of might

Verb

might (third-person singular simple present might, no present participle, simple past might, no past participle)

  1. (auxiliary, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Used to indicate a desired past action that was not done.
    • You might have warned me about the thunderstorm.
  2. (auxiliary, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Used to indicate conditional or possible actions; would perhaps/maybe.
    • Well, I might go to a party, but I haven't decided yet.
    Synonyms:
    may
  3. (auxiliary, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Used concessively to admit something before making a more accurate or important statement; although
    • I might be in a wheelchair, but I still want to be treated as a lady.
    Synonyms:
    may
  4. (archaic, auxiliary, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, often) Used in polite requests for permission.
    • "Might I take the last biscuit? I wonder if I might have a little more coffee too." "Yes you may, help yourself.".
    Synonyms:
    could, can, may
  5. (UK, auxiliary, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Used to express certainty.
    • Yeah, I think we might need something a bit sturdier.

See all 10 meanings of might

Meaning of may

Verb

may (third-person singular simple present may, no present participle, simple past might, no past participle)

  1. (intransitive, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, obsolete) To be strong; to have power (over).
  2. (auxiliary, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, obsolete) To be able; can.
    • But many times[…]we give way to passions we may resist and will not.1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II...
  3. (intransitive, no-past-participle, no-present-participle, poetic) To be able to go.
    • O weary night, O long and tedious night,
      Abate thy houres, shine comforts from the East,
      That I may backe to Athens by day-light […].1600, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, III.3
  4. (auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) To have permission to, be allowed. Used in granting permission and in questions to make polite requests.
    • you may smoke outside
    Synonyms:
    can, could, might
  5. (auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Expressing a present possibility; possibly.
    • he may be lying
    Synonyms:
    could, might
  6. (auxiliary, defective, modal, no-past-participle, no-present-participle) Expressing a disjunctive or contrastive relation between indicative statements.
    • You may be my boss, but that doesn't mean you can insult me.
    Synonyms:
    might

See all 24 meanings of may

Origin of mought

Inherited from Middle English moghte, from Old English muhte, late variant of meahte, mihte (“might”) due to the influence of the infinitive *mugan, itself an analogical remodelling of magan (“to be capable, to be able to”) after dugan (“to be useful”).

Words that rhyme with mought

42 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about mought

What is mought the alternative form of?
Mought is the alternative form of might.
How do you pronounce mought?
Mought is pronounced /maʊt/ (UK).

Words near mought in the dictionary

  1. moufful
  2. mouffuls
  3. mouflon
  4. mouflons
  5. moufs
  6. mought
  7. Mouguerre
  8. Mouhamad
  9. Mouhamed
  10. Mouhamet
  11. Mouhammad

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mought (page history and authors); might (page history and authors); may (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “mought.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mought. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.