Wite

//waɪt// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Blame, responsibility, guilt. archaic, obsolete, transitive

    "Nor I will not suffer mine indignation so to witwanton with fair justice as persuade me to put the wite on Witchland."

  2. 2
    Punishment, penalty, fine, bote, mulct. archaic, obsolete, transitive
Verb
  1. 1
    To regard (someone) as guilty, to accuse, to blame, to fault. Scotland, archaic, obsolete, transitive

    "[H]e gan fovvly vvyte / His vvicked fortune, that had turnd aſlope, / And curſed night, that reſt from him ſo goodly ſcope."

  2. 2
    To go, go away, depart, perish, vanish archaic, obsolete, poetic, transitive
  3. 3
    To censure (someone); to mulct, to reproach. archaic, obsolete, transitive

    "[U]niuſtly thou doeſt vvyte them all, / For that vvhich thou miſlikedſt in a fevv."

  4. 4
    To guard (something); to keep, to observe, preserve, protect. archaic, obsolete, transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English wīten (“to accuse, reproach, punish, suspect”), Old English wītan (“to look, behold, see, guard, keep, impute or ascribe to, accuse, reproach, blame”), from Proto-West Germanic *wītan, from Proto-Germanic *wītaną. Connected to Old English wīte, see below.

Etymology 2

From Middle English wite (“guilt, blameworthiness, blame, wrongdoing, misdeed, offense, punishment, retribution, fine, bote, customary rent”), from Old English wīte (“punishment, pain, torment”), from Proto-West Germanic *wītī, from Proto-Germanic *wītiją, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, find, behold”).

Etymology 3

From Middle English witen, from Old English wītan (“to see, accuse, go, depart”), from Proto-West Germanic *wītan, from Proto-Germanic *wītaną, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, find, behold”).

Next best steps

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: wite