Where does “wit” come from?
Wit derives from Old English witan, meaning to know, from Proto-Indo-European weyd-, a root meaning to see or know.
wit (English): Sanity; The senses; Intellectual ability; faculty...
Definitions
- Sanity; The senses; Intellectual ability; faculty...
Ancestry of “wit”, step by step
wit traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English wit
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | wit | First-person dual pronoun: we twain, the two of... |
| 2 | Old English | wit | we two; nominative dual of iċ |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | wit | Alternative form of *wet |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | *wet | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | wéy | we |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | éǵh₂ | I |
via Old English witan
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | witan | to know, be aware of; to feel a certain emotion;... |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | witan | to know |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | witaną | to know |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | wóyde | to have seen, to know |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | weyd- | to see |