dight v.

Middle English dighten, "to adorn," from Old English dihtan "dictate, appoint, ordain; guide; compose, set in order," an early borrowing from Latin dictare "to dictate" (see dictate (v.)).

The Latin word was borrowed earlier into continental Germanic, where it became Old High German dihton "to write compose," German dichten "to write poetry." It was so nativized in late Old English that it was used to gloss Latin dictator. In Middle English, dight exploded to a vast array of meanings (including "to rule," "to handle," "to abuse," "to have sex with," "to kill," "to clothe," "to make ready," "to repair") till it was one of the most-used verbs in the language, but all its senses have faded into obscurity or survive only in dialectal or poetic use.