Etymology
1. O.E.
smitan "to hit, strike, beat" (strong verb, pt.
smat, pp.
smiten), from P.Gmc.
*smitanan (cf. Swed.
smita, Dan.
smide "to smear, fling," O.Fris.
smita, M.L.G., M.Du.
smiten "to cast, fling," Du.
smijten "to throw," O.H.G.
smizan "to rub, strike," Ger.
schmeißen "to cast, fling," Goth.
bismeitan "to spread, smear"), perhaps from PIE base
*(s)mei- "to smear, to rub," but original sense in Gmc. seems to be of throwing. Sense of "slay in combat" (c.1300) is originally Biblical,
smite to death, first attested c.1200.
Smitten in the sense of "inspired with love" is from 1663.
2. From Middle English smiten, from Old English smītan (“to daub, smear, smudge; soil, defile, pollute”), from Proto-West Germanic *smītan, from Proto-Germanic *smītaną (“to sling; throw; smear”), from Proto-Indo-European *smeyd- (“to smear, whisk, strike, rub”).
3. Cognate with Saterland Frisian smiete (“to throw, toss”), West Frisian smite (“to throw”), Dutch smijten (“to fling, hurl, throw”), German Low German smieten (“to throw, chuck, toss”), German schmeißen (“to fling, throw”), Danish smide (“to throw”), Swedish smita (“to run off (to)”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌼𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (bismeitan, “to besmear, anoint”). See: Middle English '
smiten', Proto-Germanic '
*smītaną', Frisian, Saterlandic 'smiete', Dutch '
smijten', German, old spelling '
schmeißen', Danish '
smide', Swedish '
smita'.
Verbs referencing "smite"
German, old spelling
schmeißen, Swedish
smita, Dutch
smijten, Danish
smide, Low Saxon smieten, Luxembourgish
schmäissen, German, Pennsylvania
schmeisse.