plight

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a difficult or unfortunate situation

   The film highlights the plight of the homeless.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Plight has two distinct histories. The verb meaning “promise solemnly,” as in “plight one’s troth,” is probably a distant relative of pledge. The noun meaning “a predicament” comes from Old French plit, “fold,” suggesting the idea of a difficult or complicated situation.

From Anglo-Norman plit ('condition, fold'), a variant of Old French pleit ('fold'), from Latin plicitum, from plicare ('to fold'); the spelling was influenced by the unrelated native word plight ('pledge', from Old English pliht 'danger').

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External links

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