wit

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[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Old English witt, from Proto-Germanic *witjannn from Proto-Indo-European *weid-, wid- (“‘see, know’”). Cognate with Danish vid, Dutch weet, Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌹 (“‘ignorance’”), Old High German (wizzi or wizza) (German Witz), Latin videō (“‘see’”), Old Norse (vit) and Swedish vett. Compare wise.

[edit] Noun

Singular
wit

Plural
wits

wit (plural wits)

  1. (now usually in plural) Sanity.
    He's gone completely out of his wits?
  2. (obsolete usually in plural) The senses.
  3. Intellectual ability; faculty of thinking, reasoning.
    Where she has gone to is beyond the wit of man to say.
  4. The ability to think quickly; mental cleverness, especially wittiness.
    My father had a quick wit and a steady hand.
  5. Intelligence; common sense.
    The opportunity was right in front of you, and you didn't even have the wit to take it!
  6. Spoken humour, especially when clever or quick.
    The best man's speech was hilarious, full of wit and charm.
  7. A person who tells funny anecdotes or jokes; someone witty.
    Your friend is quite a wit, isn't he?
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
Terms derived from "wit"
[edit] Translations
mind; sanity
intellectual ability
Ability to think quickly
Intelligence
Spoken humour, particularly that thought of quickly
A person who tells funny anecdotes or jokes

[edit] Etymology 2

From Old English witan, from Proto-Germanic *witanan, from Proto-Indo-European *weid-, wid- (“‘see, know’”). Cognate with Dutch weten, German wissen, Swedish veta, and Latin videō (“‘I see’”). Compare guide.

[edit] Verb

to wit (see below for this verb’s conjugation)

  1. (ambitransitive, chiefly archaic) Know, be aware of (construed with of when used intransitively).
    You committed terrible actions — to wit, murder and theft — and should be punished accordingly.
    They are meddling in matters that men should not wit of.
    • 1849: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, St. Luke the Painter, lines 5–8
      but soon having wist
      How sky-breadth and field-silence and this day
      Are symbols also in some deeper way,
      She looked through these to God and was God’s priest.
[edit] Conjugation
Infinitive to wit
Imperative wit!
Present participle witting
Past participle wist
Present indicative Past indicative
First-person singular I wot I wist
Second-person singular thou wost, wot(test) (archaic); you wot thou wist(est) (archaic), you wist
Third-person singular he wot, she wot, it wot he wist, she wist, it wist
First-person plural we wit, wite we wist
Second-person plural ye wit, wite (archaic); you wit, wite ye wist (archaic), you wist
Third-person plural they wit, wite they wist
[edit] Usage notes
  • As a preterite-present verb, the third-person singular indicative form is not wits but wot  ; the plural indicative forms conform to the infinitive: we wit, ye wit, they wit.
[edit] Derived terms
Derived terms

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Afrikaans

[edit] Etymology

From Dutch wit.

[edit] Adjective

wit

  1. white

[edit] Dutch

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adjective

wit

  1. white
    De wand is wit.
    The wall is white.

[edit] Noun

wit n. (plural witten, diminutive witje)

  1. (uncountable) white (color)
    Wit is alle kleuren ineens.
    White is all colors at once.
  2. (countable) A person with blond hair.
    De Witte van Zichem.
    The blond boy from Zichem (a famous book).

[edit] Old English

[edit] Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wid-, from Proto-Indo-European *wed-, a suffixed form of *wei- (see wē). Cognate with Old Norse vit, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐍄 (wit), and Lithuanian vèdu.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Pronoun

wit (personal)

  1. We two; nominative dual form of iċ.

[edit] Old High German

[edit] Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *widaz, whence also Old English wīd and Old Norse víðr.

[edit] Adjective

wit

  1. wide
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