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Wist

 - 6 dictionary results

wist

  [wist]
Use Wist in a Sentence
–verb
pt. and pp. of wit 2 .

wit

2  [wit]
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object), present singular 1st person wot, 2nd wost, 3rd wot, present plural wit or wite; past and past participle wist; present participle wit⋅ting.
1. Archaic. to know.
—Idiom
2. to wit, that is to say; namely: It was the time of the vernal equinox, to wit, the beginning of spring.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME witen, OE witan; c. D weten, G wissen, ON vita, Goth witan to know; akin to L vidēre, Gk ideîn to see, Skt vidati (he) knows. See wot
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Wist
wist   (wĭst)   
v.  Past tense and past participle of wit2.
wit 2   (wĭt)   
v.   wist (wĭst), wit·ting (wĭt'ĭng), first and third person singular present tense wot (wŏt) Archaic

v.   tr.
To be or become aware of; learn.
v.   intr.
To know.

[Middle English, from Old English witan; see weid- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

wit  (n.)
"mental capacity," O.E. wit, more commonly gewit, from P.Gmc. *witjan (cf. O.S. wit, O.N. vit, Dan. vid, Swed. vett, O.Fris. wit, O.H.G. wizzi "knowledge, understanding, intelligence, mind," Ger. Witz "wit, witticism, joke," Goth. unwiti "ignorance"), from PIE *woid-/*weid-/*wid- "to see," metaphorically "to know" (see vision). Related to O.E. witan "to know" (source of wit (v.)). Meaning "ability to make clever remarks in an amusing way" is first recorded 1542; that of "person of wit or learning" is from c.1470. Witticism coined 1677, by Dryden. For nuances of usage, see humor.
"A witty saying proves nothing." [Voltaire, Diner du Comte de Boulainvilliers]

wist  (v.)
"to know" (archaic), 1508, from O.E. p.t. of witan "to know" (cf. Ger. wusste, p.t. of wissen "to know"); see wit.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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