tight

tight
\ \ [14] Tight originally meant ‘dense’ (‘His squire rode all night in a wood that was full tight’, Torrent of Portugal 1435). It appears to have been an alteration of an earlier thightdense, thickset’, which was borrowed from Old Norse théttrwatertight, dense’. And this, like German and Dutch dichtdense, close’, came from a prehistoric Germanic *thingkhtaz, whose other relatives include Lithuanian tankusthick, standing close together’, Irish contēcimcoagulate’, and Sanskrit tañc- ‘contract’. The sense ‘firmly fixed’ developed in the 16th century, ‘drunk’ in the 19th century.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • tight — [tīt] adj. [ME, altered (prob. infl. by toght: see TAUT) < thight < OE thight, strong, akin to ON thēttr, Ger dicht, tight, thick < IE base * tenk , to thicken, congeal > MIr tēcht, coagulated] 1. Obs. dense 2. so close or compact in… …   English World dictionary

  • Tight — Tight, a. [Compar. {Tighter} (t[imac]t [ e]r); superl. {Tightest}.] [OE. tight, thiht; probably of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. [thorn][=e]ttr, Dan. t[ae]t, Sw. t[ a]t: akin to D. & G. dicht thick, tight, and perhaps to E. thee to thrive, or to thick …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • tight — 1 Tight, taut, tense are comparable chiefly in their basic senses in which they mean drawn or stretched to the point where there is no looseness or slackness. Tight implies a drawing around or about something in a way that constricts or binds it… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • tight — tight; tight·en; tight·en·er; tight·ish; tight·ly; tight·ness; un·tight; air·tight·ness; gas·tight·ness; oil·tight·ness; up·tight·ness; wa·ter·tight·ness; weath·er·tight·ness; …   English syllables

  • tight — tight, tightly Tight is used as an adverb in combination with a number of verbs, primarily in commands or instructions: hold tight, sit tight, sleep tight. It also occurs as the first element in a few compound adjectives, e.g. tight fisted, tight …   Modern English usage

  • tight — (adj.) mid 15c., dense, close, compact, from M.E. thight, from O.N. þettr watertight, close in texture, solid, from P.Gmc. *thenkhtuz (Cf. second element in O.E. meteþiht stout from eating; M.H.G. dihte dense, thick, Ger. dicht dense, tight,… …   Etymology dictionary

  • tight — ► ADJECTIVE 1) fixed, closed, or fastened firmly. 2) (of clothes) close fitting. 3) well sealed against something such as water or air. 4) (of a rope, fabric, or surface) stretched so as to leave no slack. 5) (of an area or space) allowing little …   English terms dictionary

  • Tight — Tight …   Википедия

  • Tight A$ — Song by John Lennon from the album Mind Games Released 16 November 1973 Recorded July–August 1973 Genre Rock …   Wikipedia

  • tight — [adj1] close, snug bound, clasped, closefitting, compact, constricted, contracted, cramped, crowded, dense, drawn, enduring, established, fast, firm, fixed, hidebound, inflexible, invulnerable, narrow, quick, rigid, secure, set, skintight, solid …   New thesaurus

  • tight´en|er — tight|en «TY tuhn», transitive verb. to make tight or tighter: »He tightened his belt. –v.i. to become tight or tighter: »The rope tightened as I pulled on it. –tight´en|er, noun …   Useful english dictionary

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