Plight
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Plight, an homonymous word now used chiefly with two meanings, (1) pledge, and (2) condition or state. The first appears more generally in the verbal form, to plight one's troth, and the second with a direct or imagined sense of misfortune. The derivations of the two words show they are quite distinct in origin. The Old English plihe meant 'danger' or 'risk', hence risk of obligation (cf. German Pfiicht, Dutch plicht, 'care, duty'). The root pleh- or pleg- is probably also to be seen in the much disputed word pledge. The Middle English phi or plyt, on the other hand, is an adaptation of French ploit, 'fold', and therefore a doublet of plait, but appears in the 14th century with the neutral sense of 'condition or state in general'.
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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
