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Webster 1913 Edition

Wit

Wit

(wĭt)
,
Verb.
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.
wāt
, 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. [GREEK], Skr.
vid
to know, learn; cf. Skr.
vid
to find. [GREEK][GREEK][GREEK][GREEK]. Cf.
History
,
Idea
,
Idol
,
-oid
,
Twit
,
Veda
,
Vision
,
Wise
,
Adj.
&
Noun.
,
Wot
.]
To know; to learn.
“I wot and wist alway.”
Chaucer.
☞ 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.
☞ 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.

Wit

,
Noun.
[AS.
witt
,
wit
; akin to OFries.
wit
, G.
witz
, OHG.
wizzī
, Icel.
vit
, Dan.
vid
, Sw.
vett
. √133. See
Wit
,
Verb.
]
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.
Shakespeare
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
.
Shakespeare
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.
Shakespeare
Syn. – Ingenuity; humor; satire; sarcasm; irony; burlesque.
–
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Wit

WIT

,
Verb.
I.
[G., to know. See Wise.] To know. This verb is used only in the infinitive, to wit, namely, that is to say. [L.]

WIT

,
Noun.
[See the verb and Wise.]
1.
Primarily, the intellect; the understanding or mental powers.
Will puts in practice what the wit deviseth.
For wit and power their last endeavors bend t outshine each other.
2.
The association of ideas in a manner natural, but unusual and striking, so as to produce surprise joined with pleasure. Wit is defined.
What oft was thought, but neer so well expressd.
Wit consists in assembling and putting together with quickness, ideas in which can be found resemblance and congruity, by which to make up pleasant pictures and agreeable visions in the fancy.
Wit consists chiefly in joining things by distant and fanciful relations, which surprise us because they are unexpected.
Wit is a propriety of thoughts and words; or in other terms, thoughts and words elegantly adapted to the subject.
3.
The faculty of associating ideas in a new and unexpected manner.
4.
A man of genius; as, the age of Addison abounded with wits.
A wit herself, Amelia weds a wit.
5.
A man of fancy or wit.
Intemperate wits will spare neither friend nor foe.
6.
Sense; judgment.
He wants not wit the danger to decline.
7.
Faculty of the mind.
8.
Wits, in the plural, soundness of mind; intellect not disordered; sound mind. No man in his wits would venture on such an expedition. Have you lost your wits? Is he out of his wits?
9.
Power of invention; contrivance; ingenuity. He was at his wits end.

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