witan

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old English witan, plural of wita (“wise man”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɪtən/

Noun

witan (plural witans)

1. The Anglo-Saxon national council or witenagemot.
   • 1833, S. A. Dunham, Europe in the Middle Ages, Green & Longman, page 48:

     But in estimating the powers of the witan, we must not lose sight of the fact, that the king sometimes assumes a tone of superiority scarcely consistent with its independence.

   • 1889, Hannis Taylor, The Origin and Growth of the English Constitution:

     The folkland, the national fund, was administered and conveyed conjointly by the king and the witan.

Anagrams

• Antwi, TWAIN, Twain, Wiant, twain, waint

Gothic

Romanization

witan

1. Romanization of 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽

Old Dutch

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *witan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wóyde, originally a perfect form of *weyd- (“see”).

Verb

witan

1. to know

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: wēten
  • Dutch: weten
    • Afrikaans: weet
  • Limburgish: weite, wiete

Further reading

• “witan”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *wītaną.

Verb

wītan

1. to blame, to hold accountable

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• farwītan

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: witen
  • Dutch: wijten
  • Limburgish: wiete

Further reading

• “wītan (II)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old English

Alternative forms

• weotan

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *witan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wóyde, originally a perfect form of *weyd- (“see”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwi.tɑn/

Verb

witan

1. to know, be aware of

   be hwāmhwugu witan

   to know about something

   • c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English

     Þū wāst hwǣr þīn bōc is.

     You know where your book is.

   • late 10th century, Ælfric's Lives of Saints

     Iċ wāt eall be þām.

     I know all about that.

   • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of The Consolation of Philosophy

     Þā cwæþ hē, "Wāst þū hwæt mann sīe?" Þā cwæþ iċ, "Iċ wāt þæt hit biþ sāwol and līchama."

     Then he said, "Do you know what a person is?" So I said, "I know its a soul and a body."

2. to feel a certain emotion
   • c. 900, translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans

     Þæt is tō wundriġenne þæt þā Ēgypte swā lȳtle þancunge wiston Iōsēpe þæs þe hē hīe æt hungre āhredde.

     It's amazing that the Egyptians felt so little gratitude to Joseph for saving them from famine.

Usage notes

Old English used several different words to mean "to know":

• Witan meant "to be aware of," and was used with facts and pieces of information: Iċ wāt þæt iċ nāt nāwiht ("I know that I know nothing"), Hwā wāt hū fela ōðerra manna sind mē ġelīċe? ("Who knows how many other people are like me?"), Hwanon wāst þū mīnne naman? ("How do you know my name?"), Þū wāst hwæt tō dōnne is ("You know what to do").
• Cunnan meant "to be familiar with," and was used with people, places, concepts, and skills: Mæġ iċ hine lufian swīðor þonne iċ hine cann? ("Can I love him more than I know him?"), Ne sorge ġē, iċ cann þis sċræf swā æftewearde mīne hand ("Don't worry, I know this cave like the back of my hand"), Ealdenglisċ cunnan þyncþ mē unnytt ("Knowing Old English seems useless to me"). With verbs, it means "to know how": Þū āna cūðest mē hreddan ("You're the only person who knew how to save me"), Wisson ġit þæt hē singan cann? ("Did you know he can sing?")
• Ġecnāwan and oncnāwan meant to recognize or identify, and could be used almost interchangeably: Þā stefne iċ wolde āhwǣr ġecnāwan ("I'd know that voice anywhere"), Ġecnǣwst þū þisne wer? ("Do you know this man?"), Iċ oncnāwe gōd handweorc þonne iċ hit ġesēo ("I know good craftsmanship when I see it"), Be þon oncnāwaþ ealle menn þæt ġē sind mīne frīend ("That's how everyone will know you're my friends"). Though cnāwan is the ancestor of modern know and was probably a synonym, it was many times less common than these two prefixed forms in the Old English period, being attested only a few times in the surviving corpus.
• Tōcnāwan meant "to distinguish" or "discern": riht and wōh tōcnāwan ("to know right from wrong").

Conjugation

Antonyms

• nytan

Derived terms

• bewitan
• forewitan
• ġewitan
• God wāt

Related terms

• ġewiss
• wīs

Descendants

• Middle English: witen, wete, weten, wetyn, wite, witenn, witten, wyett, wyt, wyte, wyten; woten
  • English: wit, weet
  • Scots: wit

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *wītaną. Cognate with Old Norse víta, Dutch wijten.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwiː.tɑn/

Verb

wītan

1. to blame, accuse, reproach

Conjugation

Derived terms

• ġewītan (“to depart”)

Descendants

• English: wite
• Scots: wyte

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwi.tɑn/

Noun

witan

1. nominative plural of wita

Old Saxon

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *witan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wóyde, originally a perfect form of *weyd- (“see”).

Verb

witan (3 singular present wēt, 3 singular preterite wissa, preterite plural wissun, no past participle)

1. to know

Conjugation

Descendants

• Middle Low German: wēten, wetten
  • German Low German: wetten, wieten

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *wītaną.

Verb

wītan (3 singular present wītid, 3 singular preterite wēt, preterite plural witun, past participle giwitan)

1. to reproach, to blame

Conjugation