wit

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

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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 vīdī (“see (pf.)”), Bulgarian вям (vjam), Russian ве́дать (védatʹ), Sanskrit विद्या (vidyā). Compare wise.

Noun

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wit (countable and uncountable, plural wits)

  1. (now usually in the plural) Sanity.
    He's gone completely out of his wits.
  2. (obsolete, usually in the plural) The senses.
  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!
  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, →OCLC, 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; […]
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Terms derived from wit
Translations
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See also

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(type of humor):

Etymology 2

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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, Danish vide, Swedish veta, and Latin videō (“I see”). Compare guide.

Verb

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wit (see below for this verb’s conjugation)

  2. (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, 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
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  • 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
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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
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Translations
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Etymology 3

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From with.

Pronunciation

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Preposition

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wit

  1. (Southern US) Pronunciation spelling of with.

See also

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Anagrams

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Afrikaans

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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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

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

Balinese

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Romanization

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wit

  1. Romanization of ᬯᬶᬢ᭄

Belizean Creole

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Preposition

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wit

  1. Alternative form of wid

References

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

Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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

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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
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  • 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.
Inflection
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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
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Derived terms
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Noun

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

Verb

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wit

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

See also

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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

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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

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wit n (plural witten, diminutive witje n)

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

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Gothic

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Romanization

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wit

  1. Romanization of 𐍅𐌹𐍄

Javanese

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Romanization

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wit

  1. Romanization of ꦮꦶꦠ꧀

Louisiana Creole

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

Etymology

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Inherited from French huit (“eight”).

Pronunciation

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Numeral

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wit

  1. eight

Mauritian Creole

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

Etymology

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From French huit.

Numeral

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wit

  1. eight

Middle Dutch

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Etymology

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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

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wit

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

Inflection

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Adjective
Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
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

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Descendants

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Further reading

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Middle English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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wit (plural wittes)

  1. mind, sanity
Descendants
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References
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Etymology 2

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

Alternative forms

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Pronoun

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

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

1Used preconsonantally or before h.
2Early or dialectal.
3Dual 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.
4Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

References
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North Frisian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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wit

  1. (Mooring, Sylt) white

Inflection

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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 English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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Pronoun

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wit

  1. we two
    Wit beǣwnodon ġiestrandæġ.
    We wed yesterday.
    • c. 700 AD, Bēowulf, ll. 1476:
      goldwine gumena, ⁠hwæt wit geō sprǣcon,
      gold-friend of men who we already spoke

Declension

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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, ēowic ēow ēower
third person hīe him heora

Descendants

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  • Middle English: wit

Old French

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Etymology

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Spelling variant of uit

Numeral

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wit

  1. eight

Old High German

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Etymology

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

Adjective

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wīt

  1. wide

Descendants

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Old Javanese

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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

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wit

  1. tree
  2. stem
  3. base, foundation
  4. origin, cause
Alternative forms
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Derived terms
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Descendants
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Etymology 2

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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

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wit

  1. to leave
Alternative forms
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Derived terms
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Further reading

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

Old Saxon

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Etymology

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

Pronoun

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wit

  1. we two; nominative dual of ik

Declension

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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
Dative mī thī imu iru it
Genitive mīn thīn is ira is
Dual 1. 2. - - -
Nominative wit git - - -
Accusative unk ink - - -
Dative
Genitive unkero, unka

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
Dative ūs im
Genitive ūser euwar, iuwer, iuwar, iuwero, iuwera iro

Tagalog

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Etymology

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From wis, a play on was.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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wit (Baybayin spelling ᜏᜒᜆ᜔) (gay slang)

  1. Alternative form of was

Derived terms

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Tok Pisin

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Etymology

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From English wheat.

Noun

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wit

  1. wheat
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