dright

D2R1I1G2H4T1
/dɹaɪt/

noun

A multitude; army; host.

OriginMiddle English drihte ← Old English driht ← Proto-West Germanic *druhti →
Scrabble 11
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Meanings

dright1

noundright (plural drights)

plural drights

  1. historicalA multitude; army; host.

    […] and Finn's compatriots were of course his subjects; more particularly, his close associates, the members of his dright.

    1943, ELH., volumes 10-12, page 262
    2 more examples

    Ancient battle poems show that neither gold nor lofty cause could keep a dright's courage at the sticking point: The warriors needed to be harangued into perseverance, reminded of their obligations to the ring-giver and their ultimate rewards.

    1969, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, page 45

    The king shared his goods with the dright and took them into his very household; the dright shielded him with their bodies on the field of battle, and if he fell they fought on, to victory or death, […]

    2003, 1962, Albert C. Baugh, Kemp Malone, A Literary History of England

dright2

noundright (plural drights)

plural drights

  1. alternativeAlternative form of drighten

    "Hey, you!" Christopher called out in the most lordly way he could. "You there! Take me to the Dright at once!"

    2001, Diana Wynne Jones, The chronicles of Chrestomanci

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dʰrewgʰ-“to hold, hold fast, support”
  2. Proto-Germanic*druhtiz“troop, following”
  3. Proto-West Germanic*druhti
  4. Old Englishdriht
  5. Middle Englishdrihte
  6. Englishdright

From Middle English drihte, from Old English driht, dryht (“a multitude, an army, company, body of retainers, nation, a people, men”), from Proto-West Germanic *druhti, from Proto-Germanic *druhtiz (“troop, following”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- (“to hold, hold fast, support”). Cognate with Old Frisian dregte (“people, crowd, escort, retinue, host”), Middle Low German drucht (“band, war-team”), Middle High German truht (“multitude, offspring”), Icelandic drótt (“people, entourage, bodyguard”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍄𐍃 (gadrauhts, “soldier”). Related also to German Truchsess (“steward”), from Middle High German truhtsæze (“chairman of a multitude, steward”, literally “sitting one/presider next to/in front of a multitude". The meaning "multitude" survives in present day German in the sense of "representing a court”), from Old High German truhtsāzzo.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

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Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with dright

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All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

dright. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dright

MLA

“dright.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dright. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dright,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dright.

Source: dright on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.