wot

[wot]

verb Archaic.

first and third person singular present of wit².

Origin of wot

Middle English woot, Old English wāt; cognate with German weiss, Old Norse veit, Gothic wait, Greek oîda, I have seen, I know, Sanskrit veda; see wit²

wit

[wit]

verb (used with or 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.

Archaic. to know.

Origin of wit

before 900; Middle English witen, Old English witan; cognate with Dutch weten, German wissen, Old Norse vita, Gothic witan to know; akin to Latin vidēre, Greek ideîn to see, Sanskrit vidati (he) knows. See wot

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wot

Historical Examples of wot

Twas a wild goose chase, and I wot not what moved me to run after it.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
Wot ye not our father will let us take nought of them that come to him?
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
There ain't a music-'all chep in London wot down't know the 'Orns.
The Foolish Lovers
St. John G. Ervine
A 'ard job, sir; not knowin' wot kind of a boat she are mykes it 'arder.
The Black Bag
Louis Joseph Vance
This to the man at the wheel; then to Kirkwood: "Wot's that, me lud?"
The Black Bag
Louis Joseph Vance

British Dictionary definitions for wot

wot

verb

archaic, or dialect (used with I, she, he, it, or a singular noun) a form of the present tense (indicative mood) of wit 2

wit

noun

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 for wit

Old English witt; related to Old Saxon giwitt, Old High German wizzi (German Witz), Old Norse vit, Gothic witi. See wit ²

wit

verb

archaic to be or become aware of (something)

adverb

to wit that is to say; namely (used to introduce statements, as in legal documents)

Word Origin for wit

Old English witan; related to Old High German wizzan (German wissen), Old Norse vita, Latin vidēre to see

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for wot

"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

"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

"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.