sight

sight

English

Etymology

From Middle English siȝht, siȝt, siht, from Old English siht, sihþ (“something seen; vision”), from Proto-West Germanic *sihti, equivalent to see +‎ -th. Cognate with Scots sicht, Saterland Frisian Sicht, West Frisian sicht, Dutch zicht, German Low German Sicht, German Sicht, Danish sigte, Swedish sikte.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sīt, IPA^(key): /saɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪt
• Homophones: cite, site

Noun

sight (countable and uncountable, plural sights)

1. (in the singular) The ability to see.

   He is losing his sight and now can barely read.

   • c. 1588–1593, William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:

     Thy sight is young, / And thou shalt read when mine begin to dazzle.

   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398, lines 67, page 12:

     O loſs of ſight, of thee I moſt complain!

2. The act of seeing; perception of objects by the eye; view.

   to gain sight of land

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Acts 1:9:

     And when hee had spoken these things, while they beheld, hee was taken vp, and a cloud receiued him out of their sight.

3. Something seen.
   • 2005, Lesley Brown (translator), Plato (author), Sophist, 236d:

     He's a really remarkable man and it's very hard to get him in one's sights; […]

4. Something worth seeing; a spectacle, either good or bad.

   We went to London and saw all the sights – Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, and so on.

   You really look a sight in that ridiculous costume!

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Exodus 3:3:

     And Moses saide, I will nowe turne aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, Prothalamion

     They never saw a sight so fair.

5. A device used in aiming a projectile, through which the person aiming looks at the intended target.
6. A small aperture through which objects are to be seen, and by which their direction is settled or ascertained.

   the sight of a quadrant

   • c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i]:

     their eyes of fire sparking through sights of steel

7. (now colloquial) a great deal, a lot; frequently used to intensify a comparative.

   a sight of money

   This is a darn sight better than what I'm used to at home!

   • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 2, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], OCLC 855945:

     "If your mother put you in the pit at twelve, it's no reason why I should do the same with my lad."
     "Twelve! It wor a sight afore that!"

8. In a drawing, picture, etc., that part of the surface, as of paper or canvas, which is within the frame or the border or margin. In a frame, the open space, the opening.
9. (obsolete) The instrument of seeing; the eye.
   • c. 1607–1608, William Shakeſpeare, The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: Imprinted at London for Henry Goſſon,  […], published 1609, OCLC 78596089, [Act I, scene i]:

     Why cloude they not their ſights perpetually,

10. Mental view; opinion; judgment.

    In their sight it was harmless.

    • 1720, William Wake, Principles of the Christian Religion in a Commentary on the Church Catechism:

      a very heinous Sin in the Sight of God

    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Luke 16:15:

      That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Synonyms

• (ability to see): sense of sight, vision
• (something seen): view
• (aiming device): scope, peep sight

Derived terms

• far-sighted
• foresight
• hindsight
• insight
• line-of-sight
• long-sighted
• near-sighted
• outsight
• oversight
• short-sighted
• sightful
• sightless
• sightly
• sightwise
• take a sight
• telescopic sight

 

Related terms

• at sight
• in sight
• not a pretty sight
• on sight
• out of sight
• out of sight, out of mind
• second sight
• sight cheque
• sight draft
• sight for sore eyes
• sight gag
• sight rhyme
• sight unseen

 

Translations

eyesight — see eyesight

something seen

Afrikaans: gesig (af), aanskouing Arabic: مَشْهَد‎ m (mašhad) Belarusian: від m (vid) Bulgarian: и́зглед (bg) m (ízgled), вид (bg) m (vid) Catalan: vista (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 視野／视野 (zh) (shìyě), 情景 (zh) (qíngjǐng) Czech: pohled (cs) m Dutch: aanblik (nl) Finnish: näköala (fi), näkökenttä (fi) French: vue (fr) f Galician: vista f Greek: θέαμα (el) n (théama) Ancient: ὅραμα n (hórama), θέαμα n (théama) Hebrew: מראה‎ (he) m (mar'eh) Hindi: दर्शन (hi) m (darśan), दीदार (hi) f (dīdār) Hungarian: látvány (hu) Indonesian: nampak (id) Italian: vista (it) f Latin: visus (la) m, visitatio f Malayalam: കാഴ്ച്ച (kāḻcca) Polish: widok (pl) m Portuguese: vista (pt) Romanian: vedere (ro) f, priveliște (ro) f Russian: вид (ru) m (vid) Scottish Gaelic: sealladh m, fianais f Serbo-Croatian: Roman: vidik (sh), prizor (sh) m Slovak: výhľad m, pohľad m Spanish: vista (es) f Swedish: anblick (sv) c, syn (sv) c, åsyn (sv) c Ukrainian: вид (vyd) Vietnamese: tầm nhìn (vi)

something worth seeing

Afrikaans: besienswaardigheid, besigtigheid Arabic: مَنْظَر‎ m (manẓar) Belarusian: славу́тасць f (slavútascʹ), выда́тнасць f (vydátnascʹ) Bulgarian: гледка (bg) f (gledka) Chinese: Mandarin: 景色 (zh) (jǐngsè) Czech: pamětihodnost (cs) f, podívaná f Danish: seværdighed c Dutch: bezienswaardigheid (nl) Esperanto: vidindaĵo Finnish: nähtävyys (fi) French: quelque chose à voir, truc à voir (colloquial), principales attractions f pl, monuments (fr) m pl, curiosité (fr) f German: Sehenswürdigkeit (de), Gesicht (de) n Greek: αξιοθέατο (el) n (axiothéato) Ancient: θέαμα n (théama) Hebrew: אתר‎ (he) m (atar) Hindi: दृश्य (hi) m (dŕśya) Hungarian: látnivaló (hu) Italian: spettacolo (it) m Japanese: 見物 (ja) (みもの, mimono), 情景 (ja) (じょうけい, jōkei) Korean: 경치(景致) (ko) (gyeongchi), 구경 (ko) (gugyeong) Malayalam: ദൃശ്യം (ml) (dr̥śyaṃ) Norwegian: Bokmål: severdighet (no) m or f, turistattraksjon m Nynorsk: turistattraksjon m Polish: atrakcja turystyczna f Portuguese: espetáculo (pt) m Romanian: spectacol (ro) n, priveliște (ro) f Russian: достопримеча́тельность (ru) f (dostoprimečátelʹnostʹ), зре́лище (ru) n (zrélišče) (spectacle) Sanskrit: दृश्यम् (sa) (dṛśyam) Scottish Gaelic: sealladh m Serbo-Croatian: Roman: vidik (sh), prizor (sh) m Spanish: lugar de interés m, espectáculo (es) m, panorama m Swedish: sevärdhet (sv) c Telugu: దృశ్యము (te) (dr̥śyamu) Ukrainian: па́м'ятка f (pámʺjatka), незвича́йність f (nezvyčájnistʹ) Vietnamese: cảnh (vi)

device used in aiming a firearm

Afrikaans: visier Bulgarian: мерник (bg) m (mernik) Catalan: punt de mira m, mira (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 瞄準鏡／瞄准镜 (zh) (miáozhǔnjìng), 瞄準具／瞄准具 (miáozhǔnjù) Danish: sigte n Dutch: vizier (nl) Esperanto: celilo Finnish: tähtäin (fi) French: mire (fr) f, viseur (fr) m German: Visier (de) n Greek: στόχαστρο (el) n (stóchastro) Hebrew: כוונת‎ f (kavenet) Italian: mirino (it) m Japanese: 照準器 (しょうじゅんき, shōjunki), 照準具 (しょうじゅんぐ, shōjungu), サイト (ja) (saito) Maori: kero, kerokero Polish: celownik (pl) m Portuguese: mira (pt) Russian: прице́л (ru) m (pricél) Serbo-Croatian: Roman: vizir (sh) m Spanish: visor m, mira (es) f Swedish: sikte (sv) n Ukrainian: приці́л (uk) m (prycíl)

Verb

sight (third-person singular simple present sights, present participle sighting, simple past and past participle sighted)

1. (transitive) To see; to get sight of (something); to register visually.
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     I was on my way to the door, but all at once, through the fog in my head, I began to sight one reef that I hadn't paid any attention to afore.

   to sight land from a ship

   1. (transitive) To observe though, or as if through, a sight, to check the elevation, direction, levelness, or other characteristics of, especially when surveying or navigating.
      • 1912, John Herbert Farrell; Alfred Joseph Moses, Practical Field Geology, page 30:

        Next a point of known elevation, preferably one of the triangulation stations, is sighted; the vertical angle is read and the horizontal distance is scaled from the point of the setup on the map to the point sighted.

2. (transitive) To apply sights to; to adjust the sights of.

   to sight a rifle or a cannon

3. (transitive, intransitive) To observe or aim (at something) using a (gun) sight.
   • 2005 August 2, C. J. Cherryh, The Deep Beyond, Penguin, →ISBN:

     Jim braced the gun and sighted, tried to pull the trigger. Beside him a body collapsed, limp. It was Max. A shot had gone through his brain. Jim stared down at him, numb with horror.

   • 2009, James Wright, FBI: Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity : an Autobiography, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 27:

     So I sighted the deer with my .30—30 and fired at him. The bullet hit about ten yards below the deer. I realized that I had a problem with the gun so I aimed about ten yards above the deer as he was running and he dropped dead on the [spot].

   • 2010 October 6, Bryce M. Towsley, Gunsmithing Made Easy: Projects for the Home Gunsmith, Skyhorse Publishing Inc., →ISBN:

     This buck was finally mine. I had spent hours shooting at moving targets with that rifle and there was no way I could miss. I raised my gun and sighted through the scope.

Synonyms

• (visually register): see
• (get sight of): espy, glimpse, spot
• (take aim): aim at, take aim at

Derived terms

• resight

Translations

see, get sight of, visually register

Afrikaans: sien (af) Bulgarian: (please verify) виждам (bg) (viždam), (please verify) съзирам (bg) (sǎziram) Czech: spatřit (cs), zahlédnout (cs) Finnish: nähdä (fi), saada näkyviinsä French: voir (fr), apercevoir (fr) German: sehen (de), erblicken (de) Greek: βλέπω (el) (vlépo) Italian: vedere (it), avvistare (it) Korean: 보다 (ko) (boda) Polish: dojrzeć (pl), zobaczyć (pl) Portuguese: ver (pt), avistar (pt) Romanian: vedea (ro) Russian: уви́деть (ru) (uvídetʹ), заме́тить (ru) (zamétitʹ) Spanish: ver (es), avistar (es) Swedish: se (sv), få syn på, sikta (sv) Ukrainian: поба́чити (pobáčyty), диви́тися (uk) (dyvýtysja) Vietnamese: nhìn thấy (vi)

take aim at

Afrikaans: korrel, mik (af) Bulgarian: прицелвам се (pricelvam se) Finnish: tähdätä (fi) French: viser (fr) German: anvisieren (de) Italian: mirare (it) Korean: 겨누다 (gyeonuda) Ottoman Turkish: نشانلامق‎ (nişanlamak) Polish: celować (pl) Portuguese: mirar (pt) Russian: це́литься (ru) (célitʹsja) Spanish: apuntar (es) Swedish: sikta (sv)

See also

• see
• vision

Anagrams

• ghits, thigs, tighs

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Middle English

Noun

sight

1. a great deal, a lot
   • c. 1386–1390, John Gower, Reinhold Pauli, editor, Confessio Amantis of John Gower: Edited and Collated with the Best Manuscripts, volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Bell and Daldy […], published 1857, OCLC 827099568:

     A nombre of twenty sterres bright,
     Which is to sene a wonder sight