wit definition |Dictionary.com

Browse Nearby Entries

Wister, Owen

wit

11 dictionary results for: wit

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

wit1

[wit] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	the keen perception and cleverly apt expression of those connections between ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure.

2.	speech or writing showing such perception and expression.

3.	a person having or noted for such perception and expression.

4.	understanding, intelligence, or sagacity; astuteness.

Usually, wits.

a.	powers of intelligent observation, keen perception, ingenious contrivance, or the like; mental acuity, composure, and resourcefulness: using one's wits to get ahead.

b.	mental faculties; senses: to lose one's wits.

—Idioms

6.	at one's wit's end. end¹ (def. 33).

7.	keep or have one's wits about one, to remain alert and observant; be prepared for or equal to anything: to keep your wits about you in a crisis.

8.	live by one's wits, to provide for oneself by employing ingenuity or cunning; live precariously: We traveled around the world, living by our wits.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME, OE: mind, thought; c. G Witz, ON vit; akin to wit²

]

—Synonyms 1. drollery, facetiousness, waggishness, repartee. See humor. 4. wisdom, sense, mind.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

wit2

[wit] Pronunciation Key

–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 vidére, Gk ideǐn to see, Skt vidati (he) knows. See wot

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

wit¹ (wĭt) Pronunciation Key
n.

The natural ability to perceive and understand; intelligence.
1. Keenness and quickness of perception or discernment; ingenuity. Often used in the plural: living by one's wits.
2. wits Sound mental faculties; sanity: scared out of my wits.
3. The ability to perceive and express in an ingeniously humorous manner the relationship between seemingly incongruous or disparate things.
4. One noted for this ability, especially one skilled in repartee.
5. A person of exceptional intelligence.
1. The ability to perceive and express in an ingeniously humorous manner the relationship between seemingly incongruous or disparate things.
2. One noted for this ability, especially one skilled in repartee.
3. A person of exceptional intelligence.

[Middle English, from Old English; see weid- in Indo-European roots.]

Synonyms: These nouns denote forms of expression that elicit amusement or laughter. Wit implies intellectual keenness and the ability to perceive and express in a diverting way analogies between dissimilar things: "Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words" (Dorothy Parker).
Humor suggests the faculty of recognizing what is amusing, comical, incongruous, or absurd: "Man's sense of humor seems to be in inverse proportion to the gravity of his profession" (Mary Roberts Rinehart).
Repartee implies a facility for answering swiftly and cleverly: "framing comments ... that would be sure to sting and yet leave no opening for repartee" (H.G. Wells).
Sarcasm is a form of caustic wit intended to wound or ridicule another: "[His] tone seemed as if meant to be kind and soothing, but yet had a bitterness of sarcasm in it" (Nathaniel Hawthorne).
Irony is a form of expression in which an intended meaning is the opposite of the literal meaning of the words used: "A drayman in a passion [a rage] calls out, 'You are a pretty fellow,' without suspecting that he is uttering irony" (Thomas Macaulay). See Also Synonyms at mind.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

wit²   (wĭt) Pronunciation Key
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.]

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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]

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
wit (v.)

"know," O.E. witan "to know," from P.Gmc. *witanan "to have seen," hence "to know" (cf. O.S. witan, O.N. vita, O.Fris. wita, M.Du., Du. weten, O.H.G. wizzan, Ger. wissen, Goth. witan "to know"); see wit (n.). The phrase to wit, almost the only surviving use of the verb, is first recorded 1577, from earlier that is to wit (1340), probably a loan-translation of Anglo-Fr. cestasavoir, used to render L. videlicet (see viz.).

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

wit
noun
1.	a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
2.	mental ability; "he's got plenty of brains but no common sense" [syn: brain]
3.	a witty amusing person who makes jokes [syn: wag]

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

wit

see at one's wit's end; have one's wits about one; live by one's wits; scare out of one's wits; to wit.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Wit

Wit\, v. t. & i. [inf. (To) Wit; pres. sing. Wot; pl. Wite; imp. Wist(e); p. p. Wist; p. pr. & vb. n. Wit(t)ing. See the Note below.] [OE. witen, pres. ich wot, wat, I know (wot), imp. wiste, AS. witan, pres. w[=a]t, imp. wiste, wisse; akin to OFries. wita, OS. witan, D. weten, G. wissen, OHG. wizzan, Icel. vita, Sw. veta, Dan. vide, Goth. witan to observe, wait I know, Russ. vidiete to see, L. videre, Gr. ?, Skr. vid to know, learn; cf. Skr. vid to find. ????. Cf. History, Idea, Idol, -oid, Twit, Veda, Vision, Wise, a. & n., Wot.] To know; to learn. "I wot and wist alway." --Chaucer.

Note: The present tense was inflected as follows; sing. 1st pers. wot; 2d pers. wost, or wot(t)est; 3d pers. wot, or wot(t)eth; pl. witen, or wite. The following variant forms also occur; pres. sing. 1st & 3d pers. wat, woot; pres. pl. wyten, or wyte, weete, wote, wot; imp. wuste (Southern dialect); p. pr. wotting. Later, other variant or corrupt forms are found, as, in Shakespeare, 3d pers. sing. pres. wots.

Brethren, we do you to wit [make you to know] of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. --2 Cor. viii. 1.

Thou wost full little what thou meanest. --Chaucer.

We witen not what thing we prayen here. --Chaucer.

When that the sooth in wist. --Chaucer.

Note: This verb is now used only in the infinitive, to wit, which is employed, especially in legal language, to call attention to a particular thing, or to a more particular specification of what has preceded, and is equivalent to namely, that is to say.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Wit

Wit\, n. [AS. witt, wit; akin to OFries. wit, G. witz, OHG. wizz[=i], Icel. vit, Dan. vid, Sw. vett. [root]133. See Wit, v.]

1. Mind; intellect; understanding; sense.

Who knew the wit of the Lord? or who was his counselor? --Wyclif (Rom. xi. 34).

A prince most prudent, of an excellent And unmatched wit and judgment. --Shak.

Will puts in practice what wit deviseth. --Sir J. Davies.

He wants not wit the dander to decline. --Dryden.

2. A mental faculty, or power of the mind; -- used in this sense chiefly in the plural, and in certain phrases; as, to lose one's wits; at one's wits' end, and the like. "Men's wittes ben so dull." --Chaucer.

I will stare him out of his wits. --Shak.

3. Felicitous association of objects not usually connected, so as to produce a pleasant surprise; also. the power of readily combining objects in such a manner.

The definition of wit is only this, that it is a propriety of thoughts and words; or, in other terms, thoughts and words elegantly adapted to the subject. --Dryden.

Wit which discovers partial likeness hidden in general diversity. --Coleridge.

Wit lying most in the assemblage of ideas, and putting those together with quickness and variety wherein can be found any resemblance or congruity, thereby to make up pleasant pictures in the fancy. --Locke.

4. A person of eminent sense or knowledge; a man of genius, fancy, or humor; one distinguished for bright or amusing sayings, for repartee, and the like.

In Athens, where books and wits were ever busier than in any other part of Greece, I find but only two sorts of writings which the magistrate cared to take notice of; those either blasphemous and atheistical, or libelous. --Milton.

Intemperate wits will spare neither friend nor foe. --L'Estrange.

A wit herself, Amelia weds a wit. --Young.

The five wits, the five senses; also, sometimes, the five qualities or faculties, common wit, imagination, fantasy, estimation, and memory. --Chaucer. Nares.

But my five wits nor my five senses can Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee. --Shak.

Syn: Ingenuity; humor; satire; sarcasm; irony; burlesque.

Usage: Wit, Humor. Wit primarily meant mind; and now denotes the power of seizing on some thought or occurrence, and, by a sudden turn, presenting it under aspects wholly new and unexpected -- apparently natural and admissible, if not perfectly just, and bearing on the subject, or the parties concerned, with a laughable keenness and force. "What I want," said a pompous orator, aiming at his antagonist, "is common sense." "Exactly!" was the whispered reply. The pleasure we find in wit arises from the ingenuity of the turn, the sudden surprise it brings, and the patness of its application to the case, in the new and ludicrous relations thus flashed upon the view. Humor is a quality more congenial to the English mind than wit. It consists primarily in taking up the peculiarities of a humorist (or eccentric person) and drawing them out, as Addison did those of Sir Roger de Coverley, so that we enjoy a hearty, good-natured laugh at his unconscious manifestation of whims and oddities. From this original sense the term has been widened to embrace other sources of kindly mirth of the same general character. In a well-known caricature of English reserve, an Oxford student is represented as standing on the brink of a river, greatly agitated at the sight of a drowning man before him, and crying out, "O that I had been introduced to this gentleman, that I might save his life! The, "Silent Woman" of Ben Jonson is one of the most humorous productions, in the original sense of the term, which we have in our language.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

American Heritage Abbreviations Dictionary 3rd Edition - Cite This Source - Share This

WIT
witness (shortwave transmission)

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Link to Us · Report Ad · Contact Us