Wiktionary

witan

See also: Witan and witań

English

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

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Gothic

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Romanization

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witan

  1. Romanization of 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽

Old Dutch

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Etymology 1

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

Verb

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witan

  1. to know
Inflection
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Conjugation of witan (preterite-present)
infinitive witan
indicative present past
1st person singular wēt wista
2nd person singular wēst wistos
3rd person singular wēt wista
1st person plural witun wistun
2nd person plural witut wistut
3rd person plural witun wistun
subjunctive present past
1st person singular witi wisti
2nd person singular witis, witist wistis
3rd person singular witi wisti
1st person plural witin wistin
2nd person plural witit wistit
3rd person plural witin wistin
imperative present
singular -
plural -
participle present past
witandi giwist, giwitan
Descendants
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  • Middle Dutch: wēten
    • Dutch: weten
    • Limburgish: weite, wiete

Further reading

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  • “witan”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Etymology 2

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From Proto-Germanic *wītaną.

Verb

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wītan

  1. to blame, to hold accountable
Conjugation
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Conjugation of wītan (strong class 1)
infinitive wītan
indicative present past
1st person singular wīto, wīton wēt
2nd person singular wītis, wītist witi, witis
3rd person singular wītit wēt
1st person plural wīton witun
2nd person plural wītet witut
3rd person plural wītont witun
subjunctive present past
1st person singular wīte witi
2nd person singular wītes, wītest witi, witis
3rd person singular wīte witi
1st person plural wīten witin
2nd person plural wītet witit
3rd person plural wīten witin
imperative present
singular wīt
plural wītet
participle present past
wītandi witan, giwitan
Derived terms
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Descendants
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Further reading

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Old English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

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Verb

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witan

  1. to know, be aware of
    be hwāmhwugu witan
    to know about something
  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
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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, identify”, and could be used almost interchangeably with each other: 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, discern”: riht and wōh tōcnāwan (“to know right from wrong”).
Conjugation
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Conjugation of witan (preterite-present)
infinitive witan witenne
indicative mood present tense past tense
first person singular wāt wisse, wiste
second person singular wāst wissest, wistest
third person singular wāt wisse, wiste
plural witon wisson, wiston
subjunctive present tense past tense
singular wite wisse, wiste
plural witen wissen, wisten
imperative
singular wite
plural witaþ
participle present past
witende (ġe)witen
Antonyms
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Derived terms
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Descendants
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Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

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Verb

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wītan

  1. to blame, accuse, reproach
Conjugation
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Conjugation of wītan (strong class 1)
infinitive wītan wītenne
indicative mood present tense past tense
first person singular wīte wāt
second person singular wītst wite
third person singular wītt, wīt wāt
plural wītaþ witon
subjunctive present tense past tense
singular wīte wite
plural wīten witen
imperative
singular wīt
plural wītaþ
participle present past
wītende (ġe)witen
Derived terms
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Descendants
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Etymology 3

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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witan

  1. nominative plural of wita

Old Saxon

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Etymology 1

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

Verb

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

  1. to know
Conjugation
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Conjugation of witan (preterite-present)
infinitive witan
indicative present past
1st person singular wēt wissa
2nd person singular wēst wisses
3rd person singular wēt wissa
plural witun wissun
subjunctive present past
1st person singular witi wissi
2nd person singular witis wissis
3rd person singular witi wissi
plural witin wissin
imperative present
singular —
plural —
participle present past
witandi giwitan, witan
Descendants
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Etymology 2

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From Proto-Germanic *wītaną.

Verb

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

  1. to reproach, to blame
Conjugation
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Conjugation of wītan (strong class 1)
infinitive wītan
indicative present past
1st person singular wītu wēt
2nd person singular wītis witi
3rd person singular wītid wēt
plural wītad witun
subjunctive present past
1st person singular wīte witi
2nd person singular wītes witis
3rd person singular wīte witi
plural wīten witin
imperative present
singular wīt
plural wītad
participle present past
wītandi giwitan, witan
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