wist

See also: -wist

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪst

Etymology 1

Past indicative of wit: from Old English witan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see, know”). Cognate with Dutch weten, German wissen, Swedish veta, and Latin videō (“I see”). Compare guide.

Verb

wist

1. (archaic) simple past tense and past participle of wit
   • a1796, Robert Burns, "Bonie Jean: A Ballad", in Poems and Songs, P.F. Collier & Son (1909–14), Bartleby.com (2001), [1],

     And lang ere witless Jeanie wist, / Her heart was tint, her peace was stown!

   • 1837 Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History

     Did the maledicent Bodyguard, getting (as was too inevitable) better malediction than he gave, load his musketoon, and threaten to fire; and actually fire? Were wise who wist!

Etymology 2

A misunderstanding, or a joking use of the past indicative of wit: from Old English witan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see, know”). Cognate with Dutch weten, German wissen, Swedish veta, and Latin videō (“I see”). Compare guide.

Verb

wist (third-person singular simple present wists, present participle wisting, simple past and past participle wisted)

1. (nonstandard, pseudo-archaic) To know, be aware of.

Usage notes

• This use of wist was never a part of the regular English language; rather, it resulted from the erroneous attempted use of archaisms.

Anagrams

• WITs, WSIT, wits

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪst

• audio

  (file)

Verb

wist

1. singular past indicative of weten
2. second- and third-person singular present indicative of wissen
3. (archaic) plural imperative of wissen

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Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wist/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *wistiz (“essence”).

Noun

wist f

1. being, existence
2. well-being

Declension

Declension of wist (strong i-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	wist	wiste, wista
accusative	wist, wiste	wiste, wista
genitive	wiste	wista
dative	wiste	wistum

Derived terms

• andwist
• midwist
• samodwist

Descendants

• Middle English: wiste, wyste

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *wistiz (“food”).

Noun

wist f

1. provisions, food
2. feast, meal
3. delicacy
4. abundance, plenty

Declension

Declension of wist (strong i-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	wist	wiste, wista
accusative	wist, wiste	wiste, wista
genitive	wiste	wista
dative	wiste	wistum

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Polish

Etymology

From English whist.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vʲist/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

wist m inan

1. whist (card game)

Declension

declension of wist

	singular	plural
nominative	wist	wisty
genitive	wistu	wistów
dative	wistowi	wistom
accusative	wist	wisty
instrumental	wistem	wistami
locative	wiście	wistach
vocative	wiście	wisty

Further reading

• wist in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• wist in Polish dictionaries at PWN