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wite en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• wīt
• /waɪt/

Etymology

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.

Meanings

1. To regard (someone) as guilty; to accuse; to blame; to fault.
   • [H]e gan fovvly vvyte / His vvicked fortune, that had turnd aſlope, / And curſed night, that reſt from him ſo goodly ſcope. 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 52, page 459:
2. To censure (someone); to mulct; to reproach.
   • [U]niuſtly thou doeſt vvyte them all, / For that vvhich thou miſlikedſt in a fevv. 1595, Ed. Spencer [i.e., Edmund Spenser], Colin Clouts Come Home Againe, London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, signature D3, verso:
3. To guard (something); to keep; to observe, preserve, or protect.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
wyte		alternative	lexicographic
witing	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
wited	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
wited	Tense=Past		lexicographic
wites	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres		lexicographic

wite en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• wīt
• /waɪt/

Etymology

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”).

Meanings

1. Blame; responsibility; guilt.
   • Nor I will not suffer mine indignation so to witwanton with fair justice as persuade me to put the wite on Witchland. 1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, chapter 209, in The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC:
2. Punishment; penalty; fine; bote; mulct.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
wites	Number=Plur		lexicographic

wite en · VERB · etymology 3

Pronunciation

• wīt
• /waɪt/

Etymology

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”).

Meanings

1. (poetic, qualifier:otherwise obsolete) To go; go away; depart; perish; vanish.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
witing	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
wites	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres		lexicographic
wited	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
wited	Tense=Past		lexicographic