wit

See also: Appendix:Variations of "wit"

Languages (24)

Translingual • English

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

Abbreviation of English Wintu or Wintu wintʰu·h.

Symbol

wit

1. (international standards, obsolete) Former ISO 639-3 language code for Wintu.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Wintu terms

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: wĭt, IPA^(key): /wɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt
• Homophones: whit (wine–whine merger), with (US, th-stopping)

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weyd-

Proto-Indo-European *wóyde

Proto-Germanic *witaną

Proto-Germanic *witją

Proto-West Germanic *witi

Old English witt

Middle English wit

English wit

From Middle English wit, witt, wyt, from Old English witt (“mind, sanity, sense, understanding”), from Proto-West Germanic *witi, from Proto-Germanic *witją (“knowledge; reason; wit”), from Proto-Germanic *witaną (“to know”), from Proto-Indo-European *wóyde (“to know”), from *weyd- (“to see”).

Cognates

Cognate with Dutch wit (“knowledge”), German and Luxembourgish Witz (“joke; humour, wit”), Low German Weet (“knowledge; idea; inkling”), Yiddish וויץ (vits, “joke”), Danish vid (“wit”), Faroese and Icelandic vit (“intelligence, wits; reason, sense; knowledge; awareness, sentience”), Norwegian Bokmål and Swedish vett (“intelligence, sense, wit”), Norwegian Nynorsk vett, vit (“sense, wits”), Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌹 (unwiti, “folly, ignorance”); also Breton gouzout (“to know”), Cornish godhvos, goffos (“to know”), Irish feadair (“to know”), Welsh gwybod (“to know”), Latin videō (“to see”), Ancient Greek οἶδ’ (oîd’), οἶδα (oîda, “to know”), Albanian vizë (“line, stripe, track; dash”), Latvian veids (“form, kind, mode, type”), Lithuanian veidas (“face; front; appearance, aspect, look”), Belarusian ве́даць (vjédacʹ, “to know”), Bulgarian вям (vjam, “to know”), Czech vědět (“to know”), Polish wiedzieć (“to know”), Russian ве́дать (védatʹ, “to know”), Serbo-Croatian vedeti, viedieti (“to know”), Slovak vedieť (“to know”), Slovene vedeti (“to know”), Ukrainian ві́дати (vídaty, “to know; to deal, manage”), Armenian գիտեմ (gitem, “I know”), գիտենալ (gitenal), գիտնալ (gitnal, “to know”), Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬛 (vaēd, “find”), 𐬬𐬌𐬛 (vid, “know, understand”), Persian نوید (navid / nawīd, nuwēd, “invitation; annunciation; good news”), Tocharian A ime (“awareness, consciousness, memory, thought”), Tocharian B īme (“awareness, consciousness, memory, thought”), ūwe (“educated, knowledgeable, learned”), Sanskrit विद् (vid, “to know; to find; to consider as”). Compare wise.

Noun

wit (countable and uncountable, plural wits)

1. (now usually in the plural) Sanity.

   He's gone completely out of his wits.

2. (usually in the plural) The senses.

   Keep your wits about you.

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 under short time constraints.

   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!

   • 15th c., “[The Creation]”, in Wakefield Mystery Plays; Re-edited in George England, Alfred W. Pollard, editors, The Towneley Plays (Early English Text Society Extra Series; LXXI), London: […] Oxford University Press, 1897, →OCLC, page 6, lines 174–179:

     I gif the witt, I gif the strenght, / of all thou sees, of brede & lengthe; / thou shall be wonder wise. / Myrth and Ioy to haue at will, / All thi likyng to fulfill, / and dwell in paradise.

     I give thee consciousness, I give thee strength over all thou seest, over all its breadth and length thou shalt be wondrously wise. Mirth and joy [you shall] have at will to fulfil all thy liking and dwell in paradise.

   • c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; 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:

     O, learn to read what silent love hath writ:
     To hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.

6. 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], chapter XVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, 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:

     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, production code 3F13:

     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 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section III, page 26:

     […] the cemetery – which people of shattering wit like Sampson never tired of calling ‘the dead centre of town’ […]

7. 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, 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: […]

   • 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author’s Oeconomy and Happy Life among the Houyhnhnms. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part IV (A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms), page 301:

     […] here were no Gibers, Cenſurers, Backbiters, Pick-pockets, Highwaymen, Houſebreakers, Attorneys, Bawds, Buffoons, Gameſters, Politicians, Wits, ſplenetick tedious Talkers, Controvertiſts, Raviſhers, Murderers, Robbers, Virtuoſo's; […]

   • 1989 May, Priit J. Vesilind, “The Baltic: Arena of Power”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 632:

     A group of young wits from the resort town of Pärnu sells cans of seawater as gag gifts; on the labels they list the high pollution levels and give medical instructions.

Synonyms

• (intellectual ability): See also Thesaurus:intelligence
• repartee

Derived terms

• afterwit
• antiwit
• brevity is the soul of wit
• brickwit
• collect one's wits
• dickwit
• dimwit
• dullwit
• forewit
• fuckwit
• gather one's wits
• halfwit
• half-wit
• have one’s wits about one
• inwit
• lackwit
• midwit
• mother wit
• native wit
• nitwit
• numbwit
• outwit
• overwit
• puzzlewit
• scare out of one’s wits
• shitwit
• staircase wit
• thickwit
• underwit
• unwit
• wantwit
• wit-cracker
• wit-cracking
• witcraft
• witful
• witless
• witlet
• witling
• witmonger
• witsome
• witted
• witter
• witticism
• wittol
• wit tooth
• witty
• witwanton
• witworm

Translations

mind; sanity — see also mentality

• Armenian: խելք (hy) (xelkʻ)
• Bulgarian: разум (bg) m (razum)
• Catalan: ment (ca) f, enteniment (ca) m
• Czech: rozum (cs) m
• Danish: vid n
• Galician: mentalidade (gl) f, siso (gl) 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 (pt)
• Russian: ра́зум (ru) m (rázum)
• Spanish: cordura (es) f
• Ukrainian: розум (uk) m (rozum)

intellectual ability — see also intellectuality,‎ intellect

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

Ability to think quickly — see also acuteness,‎ ingeniousness,‎ mentality,‎ grace

• Bulgarian: съобразителност (bg) f (săobrazitelnost)
• Czech: vtip (cs) m, důvtip (cs) m
• Esperanto: sprito
• 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), esperteza (pt) f
• Romanian: schepsis (ro) n
• Russian: ум (ru) m (um)
• Spanish: listeza (es) f
• Turkish: nükte (tr)

intelligence — see intelligence

Spoken humour, particularly that thought of quickly — see also humor,‎ grace,‎ mordacity

• Bulgarian: остроу́мие (bg) n (ostroúmie)
• Czech: vtip (cs) m, humor (cs) m
• Danish: vid n
• Esperanto: humuro
• French: mot d'esprit (fr) m
• German: Witz (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἀστεϊσμός m (asteïsmós)

• Italian: senso umoristico, motto di spirito m, spirito (it) m, prontezza di spirito, brio (it) m
• Latin: argūtia f, facetiae f pl
• Latvian: asprātība f
• Māori: ngutu atamai
• Norwegian: vidd n
• Plautdietsch: Witsichkjeit f
• Portuguese: humorístico (pt) m, humor (pt), engraçado (pt) m
• Russian: остроу́мие (ru) n (ostroúmije)
• Spanish: chiste espontáneo m, gracejo (es) m, donaire (es) m, donosura f, neguillas (es) f pl

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 (it) f, freddura (it) f
• Latin: scurra m
• Latvian: asprātis m
• Māori: naho
• Russian: остря́к (ru) m (ostrják)
• Spanish: imaginativo (es) m, divertido (es) m , ^{(please verify)} hilaro m, ^{(please verify)} hilara (es) f

See also

(type of humor):

• acid
• biting
• cutting
• lambent

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weyd-

Proto-Indo-European *wóyde

Proto-Germanic *witaną

Proto-West Germanic *witan

Old English witan

Middle English witen

English wit

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

Cognates

Cognate with North Frisian waase, wed, weet (“to know”), Saterland Frisian wíete (“to know”), West Frisian wite, witte (“to know”), Alemannic German wüsse (“to know”), Cimbrian bizzan (“to know”), Dutch and Low German weten (“to know”), German wissen (“to know”), Limburgish wéïte (“to know; to remember”), Luxembourgish wëssen (“to know”), Vilamovian wysa, wyssa (“to know”), Yiddish וויסן (visn, “to know”), Danish vide (“to know”), Elfdalian witå (“to know”), Faroese and Icelandic vita (“to know”), Jutish veer (“to know”), Norwegian Bokmål vide, vite (“to know”), Norwegian Nynorsk veta, vita, våtå (“to know”), Scanian veda (“to know”), Swedish veta (“to know”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (witan, “to know”); also Breton gouzout (“to know”), Cornish godhvos, goffos (“to know”), Irish feadair (“to know”), Welsh gwybod (“to know”), Latin videō (“to see”), Ancient Greek οἶδ’ (oîd’), οἶδα (oîda, “to know”), Albanian vizë (“line, stripe, track; dash”), Latvian veids (“form, kind, mode, type”), Lithuanian veidas (“face; front; appearance, aspect, look”), Belarusian ве́даць (vjédacʹ, “to know”), Bulgarian вям (vjam, “to know”), Czech vědět (“to know”), Polish wiedzieć (“to know”), Russian ве́дать (védatʹ, “to know”), Serbo-Croatian vedeti, viedieti (“to know”), Slovak vedieť (“to know”), Slovene vedeti (“to know”), Ukrainian ві́дати (vídaty, “to know; to deal, manage”), Armenian գիտեմ (gitem, “I know”), գիտենալ (gitenal), գիտնալ (gitnal, “to know”), Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬛 (vaēd, “find”), 𐬬𐬌𐬛 (vid, “know, understand”), Persian نوید (navid / nawīd, nuwēd, “invitation; annunciation; good news”), Tocharian A ime (“awareness, consciousness, memory, thought”), Tocharian B īme (“awareness, consciousness, memory, thought”), ūwe (“educated, knowledgeable, learned”), Sanskrit विद् (vid, “to know; to find; to consider as”). Compare guide.

Verb

wit (see below for this verb’s conjugation)

2. (ambitransitive, obsolete except in to wit) To 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, 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

• The verb remains in use only in the infinitive form in the fixed expression to wit.
• 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.

Conjugation

Conjugation of wit

infinitive	(to) wit
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	wot	wist
2nd-person singular	wost, wottest	wistest
3rd-person singular	wot	wist
plural	wit	wist
subjunctive	?
imperative	wit	—
participles	witting	wist

Derived terms

• bewit
• to wit
• unwitting
• witness
• wot

Translations

know, be aware of — see know

Etymology 3

From with.

Pronunciation

• (Southern US) (before consonants) IPA^(key): /wɪt/, (before yod) /wɪtʃ/

Preposition

wit

1. (Southern US) Pronunciation spelling of with.

See also

• wit woo

Anagrams

• Twi, TWI, WTI, ITW, twi-, Tiw

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)

1. white (colour)

   Antonym: swart

2. white, White (classification of people)

   Synonym: blank

   Coordinate terms: bruin, swart

Inflection

Inflection of wit

	predicative	attributive	independent		partitive
			singular	plural
positive	wit		witte	wittes	wits
comparative	witter		wittere	witteres	witters
superlative	witste			witstes	—

Balinese

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Javanese wwit, wwīt, wit (“origin, cause; base, foundation; stem, tree”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wit/

Noun

wit (Balinese script ᬯᬶᬢ᭄)

1. tree

   Wénten wit poh akéh ring Nagara. ― There are many mango trees in Nagara.

2. origin

Derived terms

• kawitan
• mawit
• ngawit
• ngawitin
• pangawit

Further reading

• “wit”, in Balinese–Indonesian Dictionary [Kamus Bahasa Bali–Indonesia] (in Balinese), Denpasar, Indonesia: The Linguistic Center of Bali Province [Balai Bahasa Provinsi Bali].

Belizean Creole

Preposition

wit

1. alternative form of wid

References

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

Cayuse

Noun

wit

1. winter

References

• Bruce J. Rigsby, On Cayuse-Molala Relatability, in the International Journal of American Linguistics, vol. 32, no. 4 (October 1966), page 378: "winter 1 wit; 2 wit" , comparing Molale fí·t

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)

1. white

   De muur is wit. ― The wall is white.

   Ze droeg een witte jurk tijdens het feest. ― She wore a white dress at the party.

   Zijn tanden zijn witter dan die van haar. ― His teeth are whiter than hers.

2. (of income) legally obtained by having paid the appropriate taxes

   Zijn inkomen is volledig wit. ― His income is fully legal and taxed.

   Veel mensen streven ernaar om een wit inkomen te hebben. ― Many people aim to have a white, or legally obtained income.

3. (chiefly Suriname) having a white skin colour, light-skinned (see usage note)

   Synonym: blank

4. (Suriname) having a relatively light skin colour
5. (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

• Since the 2010s, wit has come to be increasingly used in continental Dutch among youth and others (associated with social justice movements) as a more neutral alternative to the most commonly used blank, which is argued to be tainted by the colonial era (see Afrikaans blank) and have a connotation of "cleanliness" and "purity" that wit does not have. See Blank en wit in het racismedebat on nlwiki.

Declension

Declension 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	—

Antonyms

• zwart

Derived terms

• een wit voetje halen
• roomwit
• wit vetkruid
• witbol
• witborstaalscholver
• witbuikrotgans
• witgat
• witgesterde blauwborst
• withalsvliegenvanger
• witheid
• witje
• witjes
• witkopeend
• witkopgors
• witlof
• witoogeend
• witsterblauwborst
• witstuitbarmsijs
• witte abeel
• witte dovenetel
• witte fosfor
• witte kaketoe
• witte klaver
• witte krodde
• witte kwaker
• witte kwikstaart
• witte neushoorn
• witte reiger
• witte toorts
• witte vloed
• wittebrood
• witten
• witwanghoenderkoet
• witwangstern
• witwassen
• zwart op wit
• zwart-wit

Related terms

• wijting

Descendants

• Afrikaans: wit
• Berbice Creole Dutch: wete
• Jersey Dutch: wät
• Negerhollands: wit, wet
• >? Sranan Tongo: weti
  • Aukan: weti
  • Saramaccan: wéti

Noun

wit n (plural witten, diminutive witje n)

1. (uncountable) white (color)

   Wit is alle kleuren ineens.

   White is all colors at once.

2. (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.

3. (slang) cocaine

   Heb je een halfje wit?

   Do you have a dose of cocaine? (The phrase halfje wit normally means "half a loaf of white bread".)

   • 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 quotation)

   • 2014, Helen Vreeswijk, Overdosis, Unieboek | Het Spectrum, →ISBN:

     ‘Je bestelde ook een halfje wit’, hield De Main hem voor. ‘Wat is dat dan?’

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• eiwit

Verb

wit

1. inflection of witten:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

See also

Colors in Dutch · kleuren (layout · text)

wit	grijs	zwart
rood; karmijnrood	oranje; bruin	geel; roomwit
groengeel/limoengroen	groen
blauwgroen/cyaan; groenblauw/petrolblauw	azuurblauw	blauw
violet; indigo	magenta; paars	roze

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)

1. (archaic) ability to think and reason
2. (archaic) knowledge

Related terms

• wittig, wittigen, wittiger, verwittigen

Anagrams

• Twi

Gothic

Romanization

wit

1. romanization of 𐍅𐌹𐍄

Javanese

Romanization

wit

1. romanization of ꦮꦶꦠ꧀

Louisiana Creole

Louisiana Creole numbers ^(edit)

	80
←  7	8	9  → [a], [b]
Cardinal: wit     Ordinal: wityèmm

Etymology

Inherited from French huit (“eight”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wit/
• Rhymes: -it

Numeral

wit

1. eight

Mauritian Creole

Mauritian Creole cardinal numbers

<  7	8	9  >
Cardinal : wit     Ordinal : witiem

Etymology

From French huit.

Numeral

wit

1. eight

Related terms

• witiem

References

• Baker, Philip; Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. (1987), Diksiyoner kreol morisyeṅ [Mauritian Creole Dictionary] (in French and English), Paris: L'Harmattan, →ISBN, page 338
• Carpooran, Arnaud (2011), Diksioner Morisien [Mauritian Dictionary] (in Mauritian Creole), second edition, Éditions Le Printemps, →ISBN, page 1089

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

1. white
2. clean
3. pale (of skin)

Inflection

Adjective

		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	indefinite	wit	witte	wit	witte
	definite	witte		witte
accusative	indefinite	witten	witte	wit	witte
	definite			witte
genitive	indefinite	wits	witter	wits	witter
	definite	wits, witten		wits, witten
dative		witten	witter	witten	witten

Alternative forms

• wijt

Descendants

• Dutch: wit
  • Afrikaans: wit
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: wete
  • Jersey Dutch: wät
  • Negerhollands: wit, wet
  • >? Sranan Tongo: weti
    • Aukan: weti
    • Saramaccan: wéti
• Limburgish: wiet

Further reading

• “wit”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “wit (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

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)

1. 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)

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

See also

Middle English personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive	possessive
singular	1st person		I, ich, ik	me		min mi1	min
	2nd person		þou	þe		þin þi1	þin
	3rd person	m	he	him hine2	him	his	his hisen
		f	sche, heo	hire heo	hire		hire hires, hiren
		n	hit		hit him2	his, hit	—
dual3	1st person		wit	unk		unker
	2nd person		ȝit	inc		inker
plural	1st person		we	us, ous		oure	oure oures, ouren
	2nd person4		ye	yow		your	your youres, youren
	3rd person	inh.	he	hem he2	hem	here	here heres, heren
		bor.	þei	þem, þeim		þeir	þeir þeires, þeiren

¹ Used preconsonantally or before h.
² Early or dialectal.
³ Dual pronouns are only sporadically found in Early Middle English; after that, they are replaced by plural forms. There are no third person dual forms in Middle English.
⁴ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd person singular.

References

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

Nigerian Pidgin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁

▲

Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu.?

Proto-Indo-European *dwi-

Proto-Indo-European *wí

Proto-Indo-European *-teros

Proto-Indo-European *wíterosder.

Proto-Indo-European *wíterom

Proto-Germanic *wiþrą

Proto-West Germanic *wiþr

Old English wiþerclip.

Old English wiþ

Middle English wiþ

English with

Nigerian Pidgin wit

Inherited from English with.

Preposition

wit

1. with
   • 2025 February 4, “Bianca Censori Grammys dress and oda looks from events wey make pipo open mouth”, in BBC News Pidgin‎^[1], archived from the original on 4 March 2025:

     Jennifer Lopez bin dey nominated for di 2000 Grammy Awards wia she cause kasala wit di dress wey she wear wey get big slit for front.

     Jennifer Lopez was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Awards where she caused trouble with the dress she wore that had a big slit in front.

North Frisian

Alternative forms

• witj (Föhr-Amrum)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Sylt) IPA^(key): [vɪt]

Adjective

wit

1. (Mooring, Sylt) white

Inflection

Inflection of wit (Mooring dialect)

	masculine		feminine / neuter	plural
	indefinite	definite
positive
predicative / adverbial	wit
attributive / independent	witen	wite	wit	wite
partitive	wits			—
comparative
predicative / adverbial	witer
attributive / independent	witeren	witere	witer	witere
partitive	witers			—
superlative
predicative / adverbial	am witsten
attributive / independent	—	witste	witst	witste

Inflection of wit (Sylt dialect)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite
positive
predicative / adverbial	wit
attributive
independent	witen	wit	witen
partitive	wits		—
comparative
predicative / adverbial	witer
attributive
independent	witeren	witer	witeren
partitive	witers		—
superlative
predicative / adverbial	am witsten
attributive	witst
independent	—	witst	witsten

Old Dutch

Alternative forms

• wit

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hwīt, from Proto-Germanic *hwītaz.

Adjective

wīt

1. white

Inflection

Declension of wīt (a-stem)

strong declension
case	masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
nominative	wīt	wīt	wīt	wīta, wīte
accusative	wītan, wīten	wīta	wīt	wīta, wīte
genitive	wītes	wītero	wītes	wītero
dative	wītin, wītemo	wītero	wītin, wītemo	wīton
weak declension
case	masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
nominative	wīto	wīta	wīta	wīton
accusative	wīton	wīton	wīta	wīton
genitive	wītin	wīton	wītin	wītono
dative	wītin	wīton	wītin	wīton

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: wit, wijt
  • Dutch: wit
    • Afrikaans: wit
    • Berbice Creole Dutch: wete
    • Jersey Dutch: wät
    • Negerhollands: wit, wet
    • >? Sranan Tongo: weti
      • Aukan: weti
      • Saramaccan: wéti
  • Limburgish: wiet

References

• “wīt”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old English

Alternative forms

• wyt

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/
• Rhymes: -it

Pronoun

wit

1. we two
   • c. 700 AD, Bēowulf, ll. 1476:

     goldwine gumena, ⁠hwæt wit geō sprǣcon,

     gold-friend of men, how we have already spoken

Declension

Old English personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive
singular	first person		iċ	mē, mec	mē	mīn
	second person		þū	þē, þec	þē	þīn
	third person	neuter	hit		him	his
		masculine	hē	hine
		feminine	hēo	hīe	hire
dual	first person		wit	unc, uncit	unc	uncer
	second person		ġit	inc, incit	inc	incer
plural	first person		wē	ūs, ūsiċ	ūs	ūre, ūser
	second person		ġē	ēow, ēowiċ	ēow	ēower
	third person		hīe		him	heora

Descendants

• Middle English: wit

Old French

Etymology

Spelling variant of uit

Numeral

wit

1. eight

Old High German

Etymology

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

Adjective

wīt

1. 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

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bit

Noun

wit

1. base
2. origin
3. beginning

Verb

wit

1. to arise

Derived terms

• kawitan
• witan
• wiwitan

Etymology 2

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

1. tree
2. stem
3. base, foundation
4. origin, cause

Alternative forms

• wwit
• wwīt

Derived terms

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

Descendants

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

Etymology 3

Probably related to Temiar wek (“to go, to leave, to depart”). Compare Indonesian pamit (“to ask for leaving”).

Verb

wit

1. to leave

Alternative forms

• wwit

Derived terms

• amit-amitan
• amwit
• amwitakĕn
• amwīt
• apamit
• pamwit
• pinamwitakĕn
• winwit
• winwitakĕn

Further reading

• "wit" in P.J. Zoetmulder with the collaboration of S.O. Robson, Old Javanese-English Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1982.

Old Saxon

Etymology

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

Pronoun

wit

1. we two; nominative dual of ik

Declension

Old Saxon personal pronouns

			nominative	accusative	dative	genitive
singular	1st person		ik	mī, me, mik	mī	mīn
	2nd person		thū	thī, thik	thī	thīn
	3rd person	m	hē	ina	imu	is
		f	siu	sia	iru	ira
		n	it		it	is
dual	1st person		wit	unk		unkero, unka
	2nd person		git	ink		inker, inka
plural	1st person		wī, we	ūs, unsik	ūs	ūser
	2nd person		gī, ge	eu, iu, iuu		euwar, iuwer, iuwar, iuwero, iuwera
	3rd person	m	sia		im	iro
		f	sia
		n	siu

Réunion Creole French

Etymology

From French huit.

Numeral

wit

1. eight

Related terms

• witièm

References

• Armand, Alain (1987), Dictionnaire Kréol rénioné/Français [Reunionese Creole-French Dictionary] (in French), Océan Éditions, →ISBN, page 379

Tagalog

Etymology

From wis, a play on was.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈwit/ [ˈwɪt̪̚]
• Rhymes: -it
• Syllabification: wit

Pronoun

wit (Baybayin spelling ᜏᜒᜆ᜔) (gay slang)

1. alternative form of was

Derived terms

• wititit

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English wheat.

Noun

wit

1. wheat