Origin: Germanic Old English suffix
Sight has 11 different meanings across 2 categories:
an instance of visual perception
"the sight of his wife brought him back to reality"
"the train was an unexpected sight"
anything that is seen
"he was a familiar sight on the television"
"they went to Paris to see the sights"
the ability to see; the visual faculty
"His eyes were so damaged that he had lost his sight completely and could no longer recognize faces in the crowd."
(often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
"a batch of letters"
"a deal of trouble"
"a lot of money"
"he made a mint on the stock market"
"see the rest of the winners in our huge passel of photos"
"it must have cost plenty"
"a slew of journalists"
"a wad of money"
The ability to see.
"After months of blindness, his sight slowly returned as he adjusted to the bright morning light."
In plain English: Sight is the ability to see things using your eyes.
"The beautiful sight of the sunset made everyone stop and stare."
take aim by looking through the sights of a gun (or other device)
"He had to steady his breathing and carefully align the rifle's sight before pulling the trigger."
To register visually.
"The security guard couldn't sight the intruder until he stepped out from behind the parked car."
In plain English: To see something with your eyes.
"We stopped to sight the distant lighthouse from our boat."
The word "sight" comes from Old English siht, which meant "something seen." It traveled into modern English with the same meaning of vision or the ability to see.