wit

See also: Wit, WIT, wít, wit., and wit'

English

Pronunciation

enPR: wĭt, IPA^(key): /wɪt/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɪt
Homophone: whit (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Etymology 1

From Middle English wit, from Old English witt (“understanding, intellect, sense, knowledge, consciousness, conscience”), from Proto-West Germanic *witi, from Proto-Germanic *witją (“knowledge, reason”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see, know”).

Cognate with Dutch weet, German Witz, Danish vid, Swedish vett, Norwegian Bokmål vett, Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌹 (unwiti, “ignorance”), Latin videō (“see”), Bulgarian ви́дя (vídja), Russian ви́деть (vídetʹ), Sanskrit विद्या (vidyā). Compare wise.

Noun

wit (countable and uncountable, 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!
- 1460-1500, The Towneley Playsː
  I give the wit, I give the strength, of all thou seest, of breadth and length; thou shalt be wonder-wise, mirth and joy to have at will, all thy liking to fulfill, and dwell in paradise.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:
  Wel, wel (Meander) thou art deepely read:
  And hauing thee, I haue a iewell ſure:
  Go on my Lord, and giue your charge I ſay,
  Thy wit wil make vs Conquerors to day.
- 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 23”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, OCLC 216596634:
  O, learn to read what silent love hath writ:
  To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.
Humour, especially when clever or quick.
The best man's speech was hilarious, full of wit and charm.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), OCLC 630079698, page 152:
  Wit is just as much put upon—blamed for a thousand impertinences over which it would not have held for a moment its glittering shield; it is like the radiant fairy doomed to wander over earth, concealed and transformed, and only allowed on rare occasions to shine forth in its true and sparkling form. It is well that wit is an impalpable and ethereal substance, or it must long since have evaporated in indignation at that peculiarly wretched and mistaken race, its imitators.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:
  The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; […] . Our table in the dining-room became again the abode of scintillating wit and caustic repartee, Farrar bracing up to his old standard, and the demand for seats in the vicinity rose to an animated competition.
- 1996 February 4, Jennifer Crittenden, “Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield”, in The Simpsons, season 7, episode 14:
  Evelyn Peters: "Don't worry, Marge. Her idea of wit is nothing more than an incisive observation humorously phrased and delivered with impeccable timing".
- 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, London: Heinemann, OCLC 59891543, page 37:
  ...the cemetery—which people of shattering wit like Sampson never tired of calling ‘the dead centre of town’...
A person who tells funny anecdotes or jokes; someone witty.
Your friend is quite a wit, isn't he?
- 1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […], London: […] [R. Bradock] for M[atthew] L[ownes] […], published 1602, OCLC 316392309, Act III:
  Tuc[ca]. […] Can thy Author doe it impudently enough? / Hiſt[rio]. O, I warrant you, Captaine: and ſpitefully inough too; he ha's one of the moſt ouerflowing villanous wits, in Rome. He will ſlander any man that breathes; If he diſguſt him. / Tucca. I'le know the poor, egregious, nitty Raſcall; and he haue ſuch commendable Qualities, I'le cheriſh him: […]

Synonyms

(intellectual ability): See also Thesaurus:intelligence

Derived terms

Terms derived from wit

afterwit
brevity is the soul of wit
collect one's wits
witty
forewit
fuckwit
gather one's wits
have one’s wits about one
inwit
mother wit
native wit
nitwit
scare out of one’s wits
witcraft
witful
witless
witling
witter
wittol
witticism

Translations

mind; sanity

Armenian: խելք (hy) (xelkʿ)
Bulgarian: разум (bg) m (razum)
Catalan: ment (ca) f, enteniment (ca) m
Czech: rozum (cs) m
Danish: vid n
Galician: mentalidade (gl) f, siso m, entendemento (gl) m
Georgian: ჭკუა (č̣ḳua), გონება (goneba)
German: von Sinnen (out of wits), bei Sinnen (in one's right mind )
Italian: senno (it)
Latvian: prāts (lv) m, saprāts m
Norwegian: vett (no) n
Occitan: esperit (oc) m, sen (oc) m, èime (oc) m, ment (oc) f
Portuguese: mentalidade, sanidade
Russian: ра́зум (ru) m (rázum)
Spanish: mentalidad, cordura (es) f

intellectual ability

Armenian: խելք (hy) (xelkʿ)
Arabic: وعي‎ (ar), إدراك‎ (ar)
Bulgarian: ум (bg) (um)
Danish: vid n
Galician: siso m, intelecto m
German: Verstand (de) m, Intellekt (de) m
Italian: ingegno vivace, arguzia (it)
Latin: ingenium (la) n
Norwegian: forstand (no) m, intellekt n
Portuguese: intelectual (pt), intelecto (pt)
Russian: ум (ru) m (um)
Spanish: intelectualidad (es), intelecto (es) m

Ability to think quickly

Bulgarian: съобразителност (bg) f (sǎobrazitelnost)
Czech: vtip (cs) m, důvtip m
Finnish: sukkeluus (fi), nokkeluus (fi), sutkaus
Georgian: გონებამახვილობა (gonebamaxviloba)
German: Auffassungsgabe (de) f
Italian: arguzia (it), genio (it), acutezza (it) f
Korean: 눈치 (ko) (nunchi)
Latvian: atjautība f
Portuguese: agudeza (pt), agudez (pt)
Romanian: schepsis (ro) n
Russian: ум (ru) m (um)
Spanish: agudeza (es), inteligencia (es), ingenio (es), mentalidad, gracia (es), listeza (es) f
Turkish: nükte (tr)

intelligence — see intelligence

Spoken humour, particularly that thought of quickly

Bulgarian: остроу́мие (bg) n (ostroúmie)
Czech: vtip (cs) m, humor (cs) m
Danish: vid n
French: mot d'esprit (fr) m
German: Witz (de) m
Greek:
Ancient: ἀστεϊσμός m (asteïsmós)
Italian: senso umoristico, motto di spirito m, spirito (it) m, prontezza di spirito, brio (it) m
Latin: argūtia f
Latvian: asprātība f, facetiae f pl
Maori: ngutu atamai
Norwegian: vidd n
Plautdietsch: Witsichkjeit f
Portuguese: humorístico (pt) m, humor (pt), engraçado (pt) m
Russian: остроу́мие (ru) n (ostroúmije)
Spanish: humor (es) m, gracia (es) f, mordacidad (es) f, chiste (es) espontáneo m

A person who tells funny anecdotes or jokes

Catalan: divertit (ca)
Esperanto: spritulo
French: petit malin (fr) m
German: Witzbold (de) m
Italian: ilare (it), battuta (it) f, facezia (it) f, spiritosaggine f, freddura (it) f
Latin: scurra m
Latvian: asprātis m
Maori: naho
Russian: остря́к (ru) m (ostrják)
Spanish: imaginativo (es) m, divertido (es) m , hilaro m, hilara (es) f

Etymology 2

From Middle English witen, from Old English witan, from Proto-West Germanic *witan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see, know”).

Cognate with Icelandic vita, Dutch weten, German wissen, Swedish veta, and Latin videō (“I see”). Compare guide.

Verb

wit (see below for this verb’s conjugation)

(transitive, intransitive, chiefly archaic) Know, be aware of (constructed 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.
- 1483 Thomas Malory: Le morte d'Arthur
  Truly, said fair Elaine, I shall do all that I may do, for as fain would I know and wit where he is become as you or any of his kin, or queen Guenever, and cause great enough have I thereto as well as any other. And wit ye well, said fair Elaine to Sir Bors, I would lose my life for him rather than he should be hurt.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Exodus 2:3–4:
  And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
- 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.

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.
To wit is now defective because, outside of conscious archaizing, it can only be used in the infinitive.

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)	thou wist(est) (archaic)
Third-person singular	he/she/it wot	he/she/it wist
First-person plural	we wit(e)	we wist
Second-person plural	ye wit(e) (archaic)	ye wist (archaic)
Third-person plural	they wit(e)	they wist

Derived terms

bewit
to wit
unwitting
witness

Translations

Know, be aware of

Bulgarian: зная (bg) (znaja)
Dutch: weten (nl)
Esperanto: scii (eo)
French: savoir (fr), connaître (fr)
German: wissen (de)
Latvian: zināt, nojaust
Occitan: saber (oc)
Russian: знать (ru) (znatʹ), ве́дать (ru) (védatʹ)

Etymology 3

From with.

Pronunciation

(Southern American English) (before consonants) IPA^(key): /wɪt/, (before yod) /wɪtʃ/

Preposition

wit

(Southern US) Pronunciation spelling of with.

Anagrams

Tiw, Twi, twi-

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch wit, from Middle Dutch wit, from Old Dutch *wit, from Proto-Germanic *hwittaz.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /vət/
Audio (file)

Adjective

wit (attributive wit, comparative witter, superlative witste)

white

Balinese

Romanization

wit

Romanization of ᬯᬶᬢ᭄

Belizean Creole

Preposition

wit

Alternative form of wid

References

Crosbie, Paul, ed. (2007), Kriol-Inglish Dikshineri: English-Kriol Dictionary. Belize City: Belize Kriol Project, p. 374.

Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʋɪt/
audio (file)
Hyphenation: wit
Rhymes: -ɪt

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch wit, from Old Dutch *wit, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīt, from Proto-Germanic *hwittaz. The geminate is unexpected as the usual Proto-Germanic form is *hwītaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweytos (“shine; bright”).

The geminate is sometimes explained as being the result of Kluge's law, thus from a pre-Germanic *kweyd-nos.

Adjective

wit (comparative witter, superlative witst)

white
De wand is wit.
The (inner) wall is white.
(chiefly Surinam) having a white skin colour, light-skinned (see usage note)
(Surinam) having a relatively light skin colour
(of income) legally obtained by having paid the appropriate taxes
pure, untainted
(archaic) clear-lighted, not dark at all
De lang gewenste dag verscheen, heel klaar en wit.
The long-wished-for day appeared, very clear and white.

Usage notes

Recently, wit has come to be used in continental Dutch by some (associated with social justice movements) to refer to a specific skin colour, i.e. to light-skinned people of apparent mostly European descent. Traditionally, the adjective blank has been used there for this purpose, and this usage is by far the most widespread in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Inflection

Inflection of wit
uninflected	wit
inflected	witte
comparative	witter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		wit	witter	het witst het witste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	witte	wittere	witste
	n. sing.	wit	witter	witste
	plural	witte	wittere	witste
definite		witte	wittere	witste
partitive		wits	witters	—

Synonyms

blank

Antonyms

zwart

Derived terms

witte dovenetel, witte klaver, witwassen

Related terms

wijting

Noun

wit n (plural witten, diminutive witje n)

(uncountable) white (color)
Wit is alle kleuren ineens.
White is all colors at once.
(archaic) (short for doelwit (“goal, target, the white in a bullseye”))
Myn wit is Adam en zyn afkomst te bederven. (in Lucifer, by Vondel)
My goal is to corrupt Adam and his origin.
(slang) cocaine
- 2011, Esther Schenk, Straatwaarde, Luitingh-Sijthoff B.V., →ISBN:
  Op de Baan verschijnen dealers die gekookte coke aanbieden. Dat is het ei van Columbus. Nu hoef ik niet meer met mijn wit eerst naar huis om het te gaan koken.
  (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 2014, Helen Vreeswijk, Overdosis, Unieboek, →ISBN:
  ‘Je bestelde ook een halfje wit’, hield De Main hem voor. ‘Wat is dat dan?’
  (please add an English translation of this quote)
Heb je een halfje wit?
Do you have a dose of cocaine? (The phrase halfje wit normally means "half a loaf of white bread".)

Derived terms

eiwit

Descendants

Afrikaans: wit
Berbice Creole Dutch: wete
Jersey Dutch: wät
Negerhollands: wit, wet
→ Aukan: weti
→ Saramaccan: wéti

Verb

wit

first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of witten
imperative of witten

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch wit, from Old Dutch *witti, from Proto-West Germanic *witi, from Proto-Germanic *witją (“knowledge, reason”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see, know”).

Related to weten (“to know”), wis (“knowledge”) and wijs (“wise”). Cognate with English wit, German Witz.

Noun

wit n (plural witten, diminutive witje n)

(archaic) ability to think and reason
(archaic) knowledge

Related terms

wittig, wittigen, wittiger, verwittigen

Anagrams

Twi

Gothic

Romanization

wit

Romanization of 𐍅𐌹𐍄

Javanese

Romanization

wit

Romanization of ꦮꦶꦠ꧀

Louisiana Creole French

**Louisiana Creole French cardinal numbers**
< 7	8	9 >
Cardinal : wit Ordinal : wityèmm

Etymology

From French huit (“eight”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /wit/

Numeral

wit

eight.

Mauritian Creole

**Mauritian Creole cardinal numbers**
< 7	8	9 >
Cardinal : wit Ordinal : witiem

Etymology

From French huit.

Numeral

wit

eight

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *wit, from Proto-Germanic *hwittaz. The long-vowel variant wijt is from Old Dutch wīt, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīt, from Proto-Germanic *hwītaz.

Adjective

wit

white
clean
pale (of skin)

Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Alternative forms

wijt

Descendants

Dutch: wit
Limburgish: wiet

Middle English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /wit/

Etymology 1

From Old English witt, from Proto-West Germanic *witi, from Proto-Germanic *witją.

Alternative forms

witt, witte, wytt, wyt

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /wit/

Noun

wit (plural wittes)

mind, sanity

Descendants

English: wit
Yola: wut

References

“wit, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Old English wit (“we two”), from Proto-West Germanic *wit, from Proto-Germanic *wet. Compare the first-person plural pronoun we.

Alternative forms

wyt, witt

Pronoun

wit (accusative unk, genitive unker, possessive determiner unker)

(Early Middle English) First-person dual pronoun: we twain, the two of us.

References

“wit, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 11 May 2018.

North Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian hwīt, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīt, from Proto-Germanic *hwītaz. Compare West Frisian wyt.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /vɪt/

Adjective

wit

(Sylt) white

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *wit, from Proto-Germanic *wet, from a suffixed form of *wéy (see wē). Cognate with North Frisian wat, Old Norse vit, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐍄 (wit), and Lithuanian vèdu.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /wit/

Pronoun

wit (personal)

(the first-person dual nominative) we

Old French

Etymology

Spelling variant of uit

Numeral

wit

eight

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wīdaz, whence also Old Saxon wīt, Old English wīd and Old Norse víðr.

Adjective

wīt

wide

Descendants

Middle High German: wīt
- Central Franconian: weck, wick, wiet, weit
  - Luxembourgish: wäit (“far”), weit (“wide”)
- German: weit
- Yiddish: ווײַט‎ (vayt)

Old Javanese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /wit/

Etymology 1

Probably from Proto-Mon-Khmer *rwiʔ (“fig tree”). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

wit

origin, cause;
base, foundation
stem
tree

Alternative forms

wwit
wwīt

Derived terms

amimiti
amwīti
awitan
kawitan
kawwitan
kawwitan
makawwitan
mawitan
mawwit
winiwitan
winwītan
witan
wiwitan
wwītan

Descendants

Javanese: ꦮꦶꦠ꧀ (wit)
→ Balinese: ᬯᬶᬢ᭄ (wit)

Etymology 2

Probably related to Temiar wek (“to go, to leave, to depart”). Compare Indonesian pamit (“to ask for leaving”). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

wit

to leave

Alternative forms

wwit

Derived terms

amit-amitan
amwit
amwitakĕn
amwīt
apamit
pamwit
pinamwitakĕn
winwit
winwitakĕn

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *wit, from Proto-Germanic *wet. Accusative from Proto-Germanic *unk, dative from *unkiz.

Pronoun

wit

we two; nominative dual of ik

Declension

Old Saxon personal pronouns

Personal pronouns
Singular	1.	2.	3. m	3. f	3. n
Nominative	ik	thū	hē	siu	it
Accusative	mī, me, mik	thī, thik	ina	sia	it
Dative	mī	thī	imu	iru	it
Genitive	mīn	thīn	is	ira	is

Dual	1.	2.	-	-	-
Nominative	wit	git	-	-	-
Accusative	unk	ink	-	-	-
Dative	unk	ink	-	-	-
Genitive	unkero	inker, inka	-	-	-

Plural	1.	2.	3. m	3. f	3. n
Nominative	wī, we	gī, ge	sia	sia	siu
Accusative	ūs, unsik	eu, iu, iuu	sia	sia	siu
Dative	ūs	eu, iu, iuu	im
Genitive	ūser	euwar, iuwer, iuwar, iuwero, iuwera	iro

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English wheat.

Noun

wit

wheat

wit

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Etymology 2

Verb

Usage notes

Conjugation

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Preposition

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Balinese

Romanization

Belizean Creole

Preposition

References

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Adjective

Usage notes

Inflection

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

Derived terms

Descendants

Verb

See also

Etymology 2

Noun

Related terms

Anagrams

Gothic

Romanization

Javanese

Romanization

Louisiana Creole French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Numeral

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

Numeral

Middle Dutch

Etymology

Adjective

Inflection

Alternative forms

Descendants

Further reading

Middle English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

Descendants

References

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

Pronoun

See also

References

North Frisian

Etymology