Where does “quick-witted” come from?
quick-witted (English) comes from English wit, from Middle English wit, from Old English wit, from Proto-Germanic wit, from Proto-Germanic *wet, from Proto-Indo-European wéy, from Proto-Indo-European éǵh₂ — I.
quick-witted (English): Mentally keen and alert
Definitions
- Mentally keen and alert
Ancestry of “quick-witted”, step by step
quick-witted traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English wit
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | wit | Sanity; The senses; Intellectual ability; faculty... |
| 2 | Middle English | wit | First-person dual pronoun: we twain, the two of... |
| 3 | Old English | wit | we two; nominative dual of iċ |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | wit | Alternative form of *wet |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | *wet | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | wéy | we |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | éǵh₂ | I |
via English quick
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | quick | Moving with speed, rapidity or swiftness, or... |
| 2 | Middle English | quik | living, alive, active; active, alert; vibrant,... |
| 3 | Old English | cwic | living, live, alive; mentally agile; intelligent,... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *kwiku | alive |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | kwikwaz | alive; lively, quick |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷih₃wós | alive, living |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷeih₃w- | to live |