Wist
verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 simple past and past participle of wit. archaic, form-of, participle, past
"a'''1796, Robert Burns, "Bonie Jean: A Ballad", in Poems and Songs, P.F. Collier & Son (1909–14), Bartleby.com (2001), http://www.bartleby.com/6/419.html, And lang ere witless Jeanie wist, / Her heart was tint, her peace was stown!"
- 2 To know, be aware of. nonstandard
Example
More examples"a'''1796, Robert Burns, "Bonie Jean: A Ballad", in Poems and Songs, P.F. Collier & Son (1909–14), Bartleby.com (2001), http://www.bartleby.com/6/419.html, And lang ere witless Jeanie wist, / Her heart was tint, her peace was stown!"
Etymology
Past indicative of wit: from Old English witan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see, know”). Cognate with Dutch weten, German wissen, Swedish veta, and Latin videō (“I see”). Compare guide.
A misunderstanding, or a joking use of the past indicative of wit; see Etymology 1.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.