browse words by letter
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
v
w
x
y
z
wit |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Wit \Wit\, v. t. & i. [inf. To {Wit}; pres. sing. {Wot}; pl {Wite}; imp. {Wist(e)}; p. p. {Wist}; p. pr & vb n. {Wit(t)ing}. See the Note below.] [OE. witen, pres. ich wot, wat, I know (wot), imp. wiste, AS witan, pres. w[=a]t, imp. wiste, wisse; akin to OFries wita, OS witan, D. weten, G. wissen, OHG. wizzan Icel. vita, Sw veta, Dan. vide, Goth. witan to observe, wait I know Russ. vidiete to see L. videre Gr ?, Skr. vid to know learn; cf Skr. vid to find ????. Cf {History}, {Idea}, {Idol}, {-oid}, {Twit}, {Veda}, {Vision}, {Wise}, a. & n., {Wot}.] To know to learn. ``I wot and wist alway.'' --Chaucer. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Wit \Wit\, n. [AS. witt, wit; akin to OFries wit, G. witz, OHG. wizz[=i], Icel. vit, Dan. vid, Sw vett. [root]133. See {Wit}, v.] 1. Mind; intellect; understanding; sense Who knew the wit of the Lord? or who was his counselor? --Wyclif (Rom. xi 34). A prince most prudent, of an excellent And unmatched wit and judgment. --Shak. Will puts in practice what wit deviseth --Sir J. Davies. He wants not wit the dander to decline --Dryden. 2. A mental faculty, or power of the mind; -- used in this sense chiefly in the plural, and in certain phrases; as to lose one's wits; at one's wits' end and the like ``Men's wittes ben so dull.'' --Chaucer. I will stare him out of his wits. --Shak. 3. Felicitous association of objects not usually connected, so as to produce a pleasant surprise; also the power of readily combining objects in such a manner. The definition of wit is only this that it is a propriety of thoughts and words or in other terms, thoughts and words elegantly adapted to the subject. --Dryden. Wit which discovers partial likeness hidden in general diversity. --Coleridge. Wit lying most in the assemblage of ideas, and putting those together with quickness and variety wherein can be found any resemblance or congruity, thereby to make up pleasant pictures in the fancy. --Locke. 4. A person of eminent sense or knowledge; a man of genius, fancy, or humor; one distinguished for bright or amusing sayings, for repartee, and the like In Athens, where books and wits were ever busier than in any other part of Greece, I find but only two sorts of writings which the magistrate cared to take notice of those either blasphemous and atheistical, or libelous. --Milton. Intemperate wits will spare neither friend nor foe. --L'Estrange. A wit herself, Amelia weds a wit. --Young. {The five wits}, the five senses also sometimes the five qualities or faculties, common wit, imagination, fantasy, estimation, and memory. --Chaucer. Nares. But my five wits nor my five senses can Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee. --Shak. Syn: Ingenuity; humor; satire; sarcasm; irony; burlesque. Usage: {Wit}, {Humor}. Wit primarily meant mind; and now denotes the power of seizing on some thought or occurrence, and by a sudden turn, presenting it under aspects wholly new and unexpected -- apparently natural and admissible, if not perfectly just and bearing on the subject, or the parties concerned, with a laughable keenness and force. ``What I want,'' said a pompous orator, aiming at his antagonist, ``is common sense.'' ``Exactly!'' was the whispered reply. The pleasure we find in wit arises from the ingenuity of the turn, the sudden surprise it brings and the patness of its application to the case, in the new and ludicrous relations thus flashed upon the view. Humor is a quality more congenial to the English mind than wit. It consists primarily in taking up the peculiarities of a humorist (or eccentric person) and drawing them out as Addison did those of Sir Roger de Coverley, so that we enjoy a hearty, good-natured laugh at his unconscious manifestation of whims and oddities. From this original sense the term has been widened to embrace other sources of kindly mirth of the same general character. In a well-known caricature of English reserve, an Oxford student is represented as standing on the brink of a river, greatly agitated at the sight of a drowning man before him and crying out ``O that I had been introduced to this gentleman, that I might save his life! The ``Silent Woman'' of Ben Jonson is one of the most humorous productions, in the original sense of the term, which we have in our language. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: wit n 1: a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter [syn: {humor}, {humour}, {witticism}, {wittiness}] 2: mental ability; "he's got plenty of brains but no common sense" [syn: {brain}, {brainpower}, {learning ability}, {mental capacity}, {mentality}] 3: (informal) a witty amusing person who makes jokes [syn: {wag}, {card}] From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]: WIT, n. The salt with which the American humorist spoils his intellectual cookery by leaving it out
more about wit
This work is licensed under a
