wit

[wit]

Wit is brainpower or mental ability, or the person who possesses such ability, especially when it's used humorously.

...

To know; to learn.

Noun
mental ability; "he''s got plenty of brains but no common sense"

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

Noun
a witty amusing person who makes jokes

inf.
of Wit

t
ing (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Wit

n.
To know; to learn.

v.
Mind; intellect; understanding; sense.

v.
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.

v.
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.

v.
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.

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'bet, 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. &hand; The present tense was inflected as follows; sing. 1st pers. wot; 2d pers. wost, or wot(t)est; 3d pers. wot, or wot(t)eth; pl. witen, or wite. The following variant forms also occur; pres. sing. 1st & 3d pers. wat, woot; pres. pl. wyten, or wyte, weete, wote, wot; imp. wuste (Southern dialect); p. pr. wotting. Later, other variant or corrupt forms are found, as, in Shakespeare, 3d pers. sing. pres. wots.
Brethren, we do you to wit [make you to know] of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.
Thou wost full little what thou meanest.
We witen not what thing we prayen here.
When that the sooth in wist.
&hand; This verb is now used only in the infinitive, to wit, which is employed, especially in legal language, to call attention to a particular thing, or to a more particular specification of what has preceded, and is equivalent to namely, that is to say.

Wit

Wit , n. [AS. witt, wit; akin to OFries. wit, G. witz, OHG. wizz'c6, 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?
A prince most prudent, of an excellent And unmatched wit and judgment.
Will puts in practice what wit deviseth.
He wants not wit the dander to decline.
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.
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.
Wit which discovers partial likeness hidden in general diversity.
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.
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.
Intemperate wits will spare neither friend nor foe.
A wit herself, Amelia weds a wit.
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.
Syn. -- Ingenuity; humor; satire; sarcasm; irony; burlesque. -- 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.

To know; to learn.

Mind; intellect; understanding; sense.

...
Usage Examples

At twenty years of age the will reigns at thirty, the wit and at forty, the judgment.

I appreciate simplicity, true beauty that lasts over time, and a little wit and eclecticism that make life more fun.

Being a blockhead is sometimes the best security against being cheated by a man of wit.

Next to being witty, the best thing is being able to quote another's wit.

Come, come, leave business to idlers, and wisdom to fools: they have need of 'em: wit be my faculty, and pleasure my occupation, and let father Time shake his glass.

My dad's sense of humor was direct and sometimes surreal - his quick wit is well known amongst our family and friends. He raised me on Spike Jones records and W.C. Fields movies, and his sense of humor fell somewhere in between.

Comedy has to be done en clair. You can't blunt the edge of wit or the point of satire with obscurity. Try to imagine a famous witty saying that is not immediately clear.

It takes great wit and interest and energy to be happy. The pursuit of happiness is a great activity. One must be open and alive. It is the greatest feat man has to accomplish.

Misspelled Form

wit, qwit, 2wit, 3wit, ewit, awit, swit, qit, 2it, 3it, eit, ait, sit, wqit, w2it, w3it, weit, wait, wsit, wuit, w8it, w9it, woit, wjit, wkit, wut, w8t, w9t, wot, wjt, wkt, wiut, wi8t, wi9t, wiot, wijt, wikt, wirt, wi5t, wi6t, wiyt, wigt, wir, wi5, wi6, wiy, wig, witr, wit5, wit6, wity, witg.

Other Usage Examples

In conversation, humor is worth more than wit and easiness more than knowledge.

I have wit in my work and a sense of humor, but I do not use irony in any way.

I think hip-hop does a very good job of infusing comedy and humor and wit into music, a lot more than other genres.

Marriage is the grave or tomb of wit.

It is a sad thing when men have neither the wit to speak well nor the judgment to hold their tongues.

If a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics.

Although it has been said by men of more wit than wisdom, and perhaps more malice than either, that women are naturally incapable of acting prudently, or that they are necessarily determined to folly, I must by no means grant it.

A proverb is the wisdom of many and the wit of one.