Wistiti=Ouistiti (q.v.)—Wis′tit (obs.).
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.]
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.]
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.]
Witan, wit′an, n.pl. members of the Witenagemot. [Pl. of A.S. wita, a man of knowledge. See preceding words.]
Witch, wich, n. a woman regarded as having supernatural or magical power and knowledge through compact with the devil or some minor evil spirit: a hag, crone: (coll.) a fascinating young girl: (Shak.) a wizard.—v.t. to bewitch, to effect by means of witchcraft.—ns. Witch′craft, the craft or practice of witches: the black art, sorcery: supernatural power; Witch′-doc′tor, a medicine-man; Witch′ery, witchcraft: fascination; Witch′es'-broom, a popular name for the broom-like tufts of branches developed on the silver-fir, birch, cherry, &c. by means of an uredineous fungus; Witch′es'-but′ter, a dark-brown fungus (see Nostoc); Witch′es'-thim′ble, the sea-campion; Witch′-find′er, one whose business was to detect witches.—adj. Witch′ing, weird: fascinating.—adv. Witch′ingly.—ns. Witch′-knot, a knot, esp. in the hair, tied by means of witchcraft; Witch′-meal, the inflammable pollen of the club-moss.—adj. Witch′-ridd′en, ridden by witches.—n. Witch′-wife, a woman who practises witchcraft. [M. E. wicche (both masc. and fem.)—A.S. wicca (masc.), wicce (fem.), wizard, witch; prob. reduced from wítega, wítiga, witga, a seer (Old High Ger. wīzago)—a supposed adj. wítig, seeing—wítan, to see, allied to witan, to know. For the change, cf. Orchard—A.S. ortgeard. Cf. Wit and Wicked.]
Witch, Witch-elm, wich, wich′-elm, n. the common wild elm—also Witch′-hā′zel.—n. Witch′en, the mountain-ash or rowan. [A.S. wice, the service-tree—wícan, to bend.]
Wit-cracker, wit′-krak′ėr, n. (Shak.) a joker, jester.
Wite, wīt, v.t. (Spens.) to blame, to reproach.—n. (Spens.) blame, reproach.—adj. Wite′less (Spens.), blameless. [A.S. wítan, to punish, fine (Ice. víta); ult. conn. with witan, to know.]
Witenagemot, wit′e-na-ge-mōt′, n. the supreme council of England in Anglo-Saxon times, composed of the bishops, the ealdormen of shires, and a number of the king's friends and dependents, the king's thanes. It was thus purely a council of royal officers and territorial magnates, not at all resembling the representative House of Commons. [A.S. witena gemót—wita, a wise man, gemót, a meeting.]