Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[OE.

wight

wiht

, AS.

wiht

a creature, a thing. See

, and cf.

The smallest part or particle imaginable; a bit; a jot; an iota; – generally used in an adverbial phrase in a negative sentence.

“Samuel told him every whit.”

1 Sam. iii. 18.

“Every whit as great.”

South.

So shall I no

whit

be behind in duty.

Shakespeare

It does not me a

whit

displease.

Cowley.

Noun.

[L.] A point; a jot; the smallest part or particle imaginable. It is used without a preposition. He is not a whit the wiser for experience.

It does not me a whit displease.

The regular construction would be by a whit, or in a whit. In these phrases, a whit may be interpreted by in the least, in the smallest degree.