wist
Contents
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- Rhymes: -ɪst
Etymology 1[edit]
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[edit]
wist
- (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!
- a1796, Robert Burns, "Bonie Jean: A Ballad", in Poems and Songs, P.F. Collier & Son (1909–14), Bartleby.com (2001), [1],
Etymology 2[edit]
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[edit]
wist (third-person singular simple present wists, present participle wisting, simple past and past participle wisted)
- (nonstandard, pseudo-archaic) To know, be aware of.
Usage notes[edit]
- This use of wist was never a part of the regular English language; rather, it resulted from the erroneous attempted use of archaisms.
Anagrams[edit]
Dutch[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
wist
- singular past indicative of weten
- second- and third-person singular present indicative of wissen
- (archaic) plural imperative of wissen
Old English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-Germanic *wistiz (“essence”), a derivative of Old English wesan (“to exist, be”). Cognate with Old Saxon wist, Old High German wist, Old Norse vist, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (wists).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
wist f
Declension[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English non-lemma forms
- English verb forms
- English terms with archaic senses
- English verb simple past forms
- English past participles
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English nonstandard terms
- English irregular past participles
- English irregular simple past forms
- English second-person singular forms
- English second-person singular past tense forms
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Dutch non-lemma forms
- Dutch verb forms
- Old English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old English lemmas
- Old English nouns
- Old English i-stem nouns