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Wite

 - 5 dictionary results

wite

1  [wahyt] noun, verb, wit⋅ed, wit⋅ing.
Use Wite in a Sentence
–noun
1. (in Anglo-Saxon law)
a. a fine imposed by a king or lord on a subject who committed a serious crime.
b. a fee demanded for granting a special privilege.
2. Chiefly Scot. responsibility for a crime, fault, or misfortune; blame.
–verb (used with object)
3. Chiefly Scot. to blame for; declare guilty of.
Also, wyte.

Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME, OE wīte penalty; c. OHG wīzi, ON vīti; (v.) ME witen, OE wītan to blame

wite

2  [wahyt]
–verb
a pres. pl. 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 Wite
wite   (wīt)   
n.   Scots
Blame; fault.

[Middle English, from Old English wīte, penalty; 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]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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