Definitions for wit
wɪtwit

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. wit, humor, humour, witticism, wittinessnoun

   a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter

2. brain, brainpower, learning ability, mental capacity, mentality, witnoun

   mental ability

   "he's got plenty of brains but no common sense"

3. wag, wit, cardnoun

   a witty amusing person who makes jokes

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. WITnoun

   Etymology: sgewit , Saxon; from witan, to know.

   1. The powers of the mind; the mental faculties; the intellects. This is the original signification.

   Who would set his wit to so foolish a bird? William Shakespeare.

   The king your father was reputed for
   A prince most prudent, of an excellent
   And unmatch’d wit and judgment. William Shakespeare, Hen. VIII.

   Will puts in practice what the wit deviseth:
   Will ever acts, and wit contemplates still:
   And as from wit the power of wisdom riseth,
   All other virtues daughters are of will.
   Will is the prince, and wit the counsellor,
   Which doth for common good in council sit;
   And when wit is resolv’d, will lends her power
   To execute what is advis’d by wit. John Davies, Ireland.

   For wit and pow’r, their last endeavours bend
   T’ outshine each other. Dryden.

   2. Imagination; quickness of fancy.

   They never meet, but there’s a skirmish of wit between them. —— —— Alas, in our last conflict four of his five wits went halting off, and now is the whole man govern’d by one. William Shakespeare.

   Lewd, shallow, hair-brain’d huffs, make atheism and contempt of religion, the only badge and character of wit. South.

   And though a tun in thy large bulk be writ,
   Yet thou art but a kilderkin of wit. Dryden.

   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. Judgment, on the contrary, lies in separating carefully one from another, ideas, wherein can be found the least difference, thereby to avoid being misled by similitude. John Locke.

   Cou’d any but a knowing prudent cause
   Begin such motions, and assign such laws?
   If the great mind had form’d a different frame,
   Might not your wanton wit the system blame? Richard Blackmore.

   3. Sentiments produced by quickness of fancy.

   All sorts of men take a pleasure to gird at me. The brain of this foolish compounded clay, man, is not able to invent any thing that tends more to laughter, than what I invent, and is invented on me. I am not only witty in myself, but the cause that wit is in other men. William Shakespeare.

   His works become the frippery of wit. Ben Jonson.

   The Romans made those times the standard of their wit, when they subdu’d the world. Thomas Sprat.

   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.

   Let a lord once but own the happy lines;
   How the wit brightens, and the style refines! Alexander Pope.

   4. A man of fancy.

   Intemperate wits will spare neither friend nor foe; and make themselves the common enemies of mankind. Roger L'Estrange.

   A poet, being too witty himself, could draw nothing but wits in a comedy: even his fools were infected with the disease of their author. Dryden.

   To tell them wou’d a hundred tongues require;
   Or one vain wit’s, that might a hundred tire. Alexander Pope.

   5. A man of genius.

   Searching wits, of more mechanick parts;
   Who grac’d their age with new-invented arts:
   Those who to worth their bounty did extend,
   And those who knew that bounty to commend. Dryden.

   How vain that second life in others breath?
   Th’ estate which wits inherit after death;
   Ease, health, and life, for this they must resign,
   Unsure the tenure, but how vast the fine!
   The great man’s curse, without the gain endure;
   Be envy’d, wretched; and be flatter’d, poor. Alexander Pope.

   6. Sense; judgment.

   Strong was their plot,
   Their practice close, their faith suspected not;
   Their states far off, and they of wary wit. Daniel.

   Come, leave the loathed stage,
   And this more loathsome age;
   Where pride and impudence in faction knit,
   Usurp the chair of wit. Ben Jonson.

   Though his youthful blood be fir’d with wine,
   He wants not wit the danger to decline. Dryden.

   7. In the plural. Sound mind; intellect not crazed.

   If our wits run the wild-goose chace, I have done: for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits, than I have in my whole five. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet.

   I had a son,
   Now outlaw’d from my blood; he sought my life:
   The grief hath craz’d my wits. William Shakespeare, K. Lear.

   Are his wits safe? is he not light of brain? William Shakespeare.

   Sound sleep cometh of moderate eating; he riseth early, and his wits are with him: but the pain of watching, and choler, and pangs of the belly, are with an unsatiable man. Ecclus. xxxi. 20.

   Wickedness is voluntary frenzy, and every sinner does more extravagant things than any man that is crazed, and out of his wits, only that he knows better what he does. John Tillotson.

   No man in his wits can seriously think that his own soul hath existed from all eternity. Richard Bentley.

   8. Contrivance; stratagem; power of expedients.

   How can it chuse but bring the simple to their wits end? how can it chuse but vex and amaze them? Richard Hooker.

   I was like to be apprehended for the witch of Brainford; but that my admirable dexterity of wit, counterfeiting the action of an old woman, delivered me. William Shakespeare.

   Sleights from his wit and subtlety proceed. John Milton.

   The neighbourhood were at their wits end, to consider what would be the issue. Roger L'Estrange.

2. To Witverb

   To know. This word is now only used in the phrase to wit; that is to say.

   Etymology: witan , Saxon.

   There is an officer, to wit, the sheriff of the shire, whose office it is, to walk up and down his bailiwick. Edmund Spenser.

   Yet are these feet, whose strengthless stay is numb,
   Unable to support this lump of clay,
   Swift-winged with desire to get a grave;
   As witting, I no other comfort have. William Shakespeare, Hen. VI.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Wit

   Wit is a form of intelligent humour, the ability to say or write things that are clever and usually funny. Someone witty is a person who is skilled at making clever and funny remarks. Forms of wit include the quip, repartee, and wisecrack.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. wit

   Wit is a form of intelligent humor, the ability to say or write things that are clever and usually sharp or incisive. It can also refer to a person's quick and inventive verbal humor or mental sharpness and inventiveness, keen intelligence.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Wit

   of Wit

2. Witnoun

   to know; to learn

3. Wit

   mind; intellect; understanding; sense

4. Wit

   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

5. Wit

   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

6. Wit

   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

7. Etymology: [OE. witen, pres. ich wot, wat, I know (wot), imp. wiste, AS. witan, pres. wt, 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.]

WikidataRate this definition:3.0 / 2 votes

1. Wit

   Wit is a form of intelligent humour, the ability to say or write things that are clever and usually funny. A wit is a person skilled at making clever and funny remarks. Forms of wit include the quip and repartee.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. Wit

   wit, v.i. to know:—pr.t. 1st pers. sing. Wot; 2d, Wost (erroneously Wot′test); 3d, Wot (erroneously Wot′teth):—pl. 1st, 2d, 3d, Wot; pa.t. Wist (erroneously Wot′ted); pr.p. Wit′ting, Weet′ing (erroneously Wot′ting); pa.p. Wist.—To do to wit, to cause to know; To wit, that is to say—the A.S. gerund tó witanne. [A.S. witan, to know (pr.t. ic wát, þu wást, he wát, pl. witon; pa.t. wiste—also wisse, pl. wiston, pa.p. wist); Goth. witan, Ger. wissen; cf. L. vidēre, Gr. idein.]

2. Wit

   wit, n. understanding: a mental faculty (chiefly in pl.): the power of combining ideas with a ludicrous effect, the result of this power: ingenuity: (rare) imagination: (obs.) information.—adj. Wit′less, wanting wit or understanding: thoughtless.—adv. Wit′lessly.—ns. Wit′lessness; Wit′ling, one who has little wit: a pretender to wit; Wit′-mong′er, a poor would-be wit; Wit′-snap′per (Shak.), one who affects wit or repartee.—adj. Wit′ted, having wit or understanding.—n. Witticism (wit′i-sizm), a witty remark: a sentence or phrase affectedly witty.—adv. Wit′tily.—n. Wit′tiness.—adv. Wit′tingly, knowingly: by design.—adj. Wit′ty, possessed of wit: amusing: droll: sarcastic: (B.) ingenious: (Shak.) wise, discreet.—v.i. Wit′wanton, to indulge in irreverent wit.—At one's wits' end, utterly perplexed; Live by one's wits, to live in a haphazard manner by any shift; The five wits, the five senses. [A.S. wit, from the verb above.]

3. Wit

   wit, n. a person of understanding or judgment, esp. a person who has a keen perception of the ludicrous and can express it neatly. [Perh. a use of the preceding word; others trace through A.S. wita, gewita, a counsellor—witan, to know.]

The Roycroft DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. wit

   The thing that fractures many a friendship.

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. WIT

   What does WIT stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the WIT acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. WIT

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Wit is ranked #79338 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Wit surname appeared 240 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Wit.
   
   88.7% or 213 total occurrences were White.
   4.5% or 11 total occurrences were Asian.
   2.5% or 6 total occurrences were of two or more races.

Matched Categories

1. • Intelligence

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'wit' in Nouns Frequency: #2630

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Anagrams for wit »

1. twi

How to pronounce wit?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say wit in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of wit in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of wit in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of wit in a Sentence

1. William Shakespeare:

   This fellow's wise enough to play the fool, And to do that well craves a kind of wit.

2. W. Somerset Maugham:

   The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit.

3. Pope Gregory The Great:

   There are nine orders of angels, to wit, angels, archangels, virtues, powers, principalities, dominations, thrones, cherubim, and seraphim.

4. William Temple:

   The first ingredient in conversation is truth, the next good sense, the third good humor, and the fourth wit.

5. Hamdulla tareen:

   Laughing faces do not means that there is absence of sorrows but it means the they have ability to deal wit sorrows.........

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=wit
2. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=wit
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wit
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wit
6. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=wit
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=wit
8. ^ The Roycroft Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36566/36566-h/36566-h.htm#:~:text=wit
9. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
   https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html
10. ^ Usage in printed sources
    https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=wit