wot
- first and third person singular present of wit2.
Origin of wot
wit2
- Archaic. to know.
- to wit, that is to say; namely: It was the time of the vernal equinox, to wit, the beginning of spring.
Origin of wit2
Examples from the Web for wot
Historical Examples
Twas a wild goose chase, and I wot not what moved me to run after it.
The Armourer's PrenticesCharlotte M. Yonge
Wot ye not our father will let us take nought of them that come to him?
The Armourer's PrenticesCharlotte M. Yonge
There ain't a music-'all chep in London wot down't know the 'Orns.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
This to the man at the wheel; then to Kirkwood: "Wot's that, me lud?"
The Black BagLouis Joseph Vance
A 'ard job, sir; not knowin' wot kind of a boat she are mykes it 'arder.
The Black BagLouis Joseph Vance
wot
- archaic, or dialect (used with I, she, he, it, or a singular noun) a form of the present tense (indicative mood) of wit 2
wit1
- the talent or quality of using unexpected associations between contrasting or disparate words or ideas to make a clever humorous effect
- speech or writing showing this quality
- a person possessing, showing, or noted for such an ability, esp in repartee
- practical intelligence (esp in the phrase have the wit to)
- Scot and Northern English dialect information or knowledge (esp in the phrase get wit of)
- archaic mental capacity or a person possessing it
- obsolete the mind or memory
Word Origin
wit2
- archaic to be or become aware of (something)
- to wit that is to say; namely (used to introduce statements, as in legal documents)
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for wot
v.
"to know" (archaic), from Old English wat, first and third person singular present indicative of witan "to know," from Proto-Germanic *wait (see wit (v.)).
wit
n.
"mental capacity," Old English wit, more commonly gewit, from Proto-Germanic *witjan (cf. Old Saxon wit, Old Norse vit, Danish vid, Swedish vett, Old Frisian wit, Old High German wizzi "knowledge, understanding, intelligence, mind," German Witz "wit, witticism, joke," Gothic unwiti "ignorance"), from PIE *woid-/*weid-/*wid- "to see," metaphorically "to know" (see vision). Related to Old English witan "to know" (source of wit (v.)). Meaning "ability to make clever remarks in an amusing way" is first recorded 1540s; that of "person of wit or learning" is from late 15c. For nuances of usage, see humor.
A witty saying proves nothing. [Voltaire, Diner du Comte de Boulainvilliers]
Wit ought to be five or six degrees above the ideas that form the intelligence of an audience. [Stendhal, "Life of Henry Brulard"]
wit
v.
"know," Old English witan "to know," from Proto-Germanic *witanan "to have seen," hence "to know" (cf. Old Saxon witan, Old Norse vita, Old Frisian wita, Middle Dutch, Dutch weten, Old High German wizzan, German wissen, Gothic witan "to know"); see wit (n.). The phrase to wit, almost the only surviving use of the verb, is first recorded 1570s, from earlier that is to wit (mid-14c.), probably a loan-translation of Anglo-French cestasavoir, used to render Latin videlicet (see viz.).
Idioms and Phrases with wot
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.