wit
Contents |
English [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
- (UK) enPR: wĭt, IPA: /wɪt/, X-SAMPA: /wIt/
- (US) enPR: wĭt, IPA: /wɪt/, X-SAMPA: /wIt/
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Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪt
- Homophone: whit (in accents with the wine-whine merger)
Etymology 1 [edit]
From Middle English, from Old English witt (“understanding, intellect, sense, knowledge, consciousness, conscience”), from Proto-Germanic *witją (“knowledge, reason”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd-, *wid- (“see, know”). Cognate with Dutch weet, German Witz, Danish vid, Swedish vett, Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌹 (unwiti, “ignorance”), Latin videō (“see”). Compare wise.
Noun [edit]
wit (plural wits)
- (now usually in the plural) Sanity.
- He's gone completely out of his wits.
- (obsolete usually in the plural) The senses.
- Intellectual ability; faculty of thinking, reasoning.
- Where she has gone to is beyond the wit of man to say.
- The ability to think quickly; mental cleverness, especially under short time constraints.
- My father had a quick wit and a steady hand.
- Intelligence; common sense.
- The opportunity was right in front of you, and you didn't even have the wit to take it!
- Spoken humour, especially when clever or quick.
- The best man's speech was hilarious, full of wit and charm.
- A person who tells funny anecdotes or jokes; someone witty.
- Your friend is quite a wit, isn't he?
Synonyms [edit]
- See also Wikisaurus:intelligence
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
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See also [edit]
(type of humor):
Etymology 2 [edit]
From Old English witan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd-, *wid- (“see, know”). Cognate with Dutch weten, German wissen, Swedish veta, and Latin videō (“I see”). Compare guide.
Verb [edit]
wit (see below for this verb’s conjugation)
- (transitive, intransitive, 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.
Conjugation [edit]
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Usage notes [edit]
- 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.
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
Etymology 3 [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
(Southern American English): IPA: (before consonants) /wɪt/, (before vowels) /wɪtʃ/
Preposition [edit]
wit
- (Southern American English) Alternative spelling of with.
Anagrams [edit]
Afrikaans [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Dutch wit.
Adjective [edit]
wit (attributive witte, comparative witter, superlative witste)
Dutch [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Old Dutch *wīt with unexpected shortening of the vowel, from Proto-Germanic *hwītaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweytos (“shine; bright”). Compare German weiß, West Frisian wyt, English white, Norwegian hvit, Swedish vit.
Pronunciation [edit]
Adjective [edit]
wit (comparative witter, superlative witst)
Declension [edit]
Antonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Noun [edit]
wit n (plural witten, diminutive witje)
- (uncountable) white (color)
- Wit is alle kleuren ineens.
- White is all colors at once.
- Wit is alle kleuren ineens.
- (slang) cocaine
- Heb je een halfje wit?
Derived terms [edit]
Descendants [edit]
- Afrikaans: wit
Verb [edit]
wit
- first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of witten
- imperative of witten
Anagrams [edit]
Gothic [edit]
Romanization [edit]
wit
- See 𐍅𐌹𐍄
Louisiana Creole French [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From French sept.
Numeral [edit]
wit
- (cardinal) eight
Mauritian Creole [edit]
| < 7 | 8 | 9 > |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal : wit Ordinal : witiem |
||
Etymology [edit]
From French huit.
Numeral [edit]
wit
- (cardinal) eight
Old English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Proto-Germanic *wet, from Proto-Indo-European *wed-, a suffixed form of *wei- (see wē). Cognate with Old Norse vit, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐍄 (wit), and Lithuanian vèdu.
Pronunciation [edit]
- IPA: /wit/
Pronoun [edit]
wit (personal)
Old French [edit]
Numeral [edit]
wit
Old High German [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Proto-Germanic *wīdaz, whence also Old Saxon wīt, Old English wīd and Old Norse víðr.
Adjective [edit]
wit
Descendants [edit]
Old Saxon [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Proto-Germanic *wet.
Pronoun [edit]
wit
Declension [edit]
| Personal pronouns | |||||
| Singular | 1. | 2. | 3. m | 3. f | 3. n |
| Nominative | ik | thū | hē | sīu | it |
| Accusative | mī, mik | thī, thik | ina | sīa | |
| Dative | mī | thī | imu | iru | it |
| Genitive | mīn | thīn | is | ira | is |
| Dual | 1. | 2. | - | - | - |
| Nominative | wit | git | - | - | - |
| Accusative | unk | ink | - | - | - |
| Dative | |||||
| Genitive | unkaro | inka | - | - | - |
| Plural | 1. | 2. | 3. m | 3. f | 3. n |
| Nominative | wī | gī | sīa | sīa | sīu |
| Accusative | ūs | īu, gīu | |||
| Dative | im | ||||
| Genitive | ūsar | īuwar, gīuwar | iro | ||
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