Etymology From Middle English mighty, mightie, mighti, myghty, miȝty, maȝty, from Old English mihtiġ, mehtiġ, meahtiġ, mæhtiġ (“mighty”), from Proto-West Germanic *mahtīg (“mighty”), from Proto-Germanic *mahtīgaz (“mighty”), equivalent to might + -y. Cognate with Scots michty, mychty, Saterland Frisian machtich, Dutch machtig, German Low German machtig, German mächtig, Swedish mäktig.
1
Obsolete, Rare A warrior of great strength and courage.
And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Chronicles 11:12:
mighty
adj
Etymology From Middle English mighty, mightie, mighti, myghty, miȝty, maȝty, from Old English mihtiġ, mehtiġ, meahtiġ, mæhtiġ (“mighty”), from Proto-West Germanic *mahtīg (“mighty”), from Proto-Germanic *mahtīgaz (“mighty”), equivalent to might + -y. Cognate with Scots michty, mychty, Saterland Frisian machtich, Dutch machtig, German Low German machtig, German mächtig, Swedish mäktig.
1
Very strong; possessing might.
He's a mighty wrestler, but you are faster than him.
Wise in heart, and mighty in strength.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 9:4:
Having listened attentively to the statement of Wandle Schoonhoven, giving an occasionable grunt, as he shovelled a mighty spoonful of Indian pudding into his mouth […]1809, A History of New York, Washington Irving:
4
Accomplished by might; hence, extraordinary; wonderful.
His mighty works1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 11:20:
Under his ſpecial eie / Abſtemious I [Samson] grew up and thriv'd amain; / He led me on to mightieſt deeds / Above the nerve of mortal arm / Againſt the uncircumciſ'd, our enemies.1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 42, lines 637–638:
1 more example
Mighty was their fuss about little matters.1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
Etymology From Middle English mighty, mightie, mighti, myghty, miȝty, maȝty, from Old English mihtiġ, mehtiġ, meahtiġ, mæhtiġ (“mighty”), from Proto-West Germanic *mahtīg (“mighty”), from Proto-Germanic *mahtīgaz (“mighty”), equivalent to might + -y. Cognate with Scots michty, mychty, Saterland Frisian machtich, Dutch machtig, German Low German machtig, German mächtig, Swedish mäktig.
You can leave that food in your locker for the weekend, but it's going to smell mighty bad when you come back on Monday.
Pork chops boiled with turnip greens make a mighty fine meal.
4 more examples
The lady is not heard of, and the King mighty angry and the Lord sent to the Tower.1665 June 6 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “May 28th, 1665”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume IV, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1894, →OCLC:
'He is a mighty handsome man!' 'I don't think so,' said Tess coldly.1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 82:
"You see, between you an' me close-tiled, I look on this South American business as a mighty serious thing, and if I have a pal with me I want a man I can bank on."1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
I was mighty glad that our entrance into the interior of Caprona had been inside a submarine rather than in any other form of vessel. I could readily understand how it might have been that Caprona had been invaded in the past by venturesome navigators without word of it ever reaching the outside world, for I can assure you that only by submarine could man pass up that great sluggish river, alive.1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC: