Where does “forwiten” come from?
forwiten (Middle English) comes from Old English fōrewitan, from Old English wītan, from Proto-West Germanic wītan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European wóyde, from Proto-Indo-European weyd- — to see.
Ancestry of “forwiten”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | fōrewitan | to foreknow |
| 2 | Old English | wītan | to look, behold, see, guard, keep, impute or... |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | wītan | to accuse, to blame |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | *witaną | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | wóyde | to have seen, to know |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | weyd- | to see |