Webster's English Dictionary

Enter the word to look up:

wit

1. wit \'wit\ \'wist\ \'wa:t\ vb or wist;  or wit.ting or wot [ME witen 
   (1st & 3d sing. pres. wot, past wiste), fr. OE w] pres 1st & 3d sing itan 
   (1st & 3d sing. pres. wa-t, past wisse, wiste); akin to OHG wizzan to know, 
   L vide-re to see, Gk eidenai to know, idein to see archaic  : KNOW, LEARN 
2. wit n [ME, fr. OE; akin to OHG wizzi knowledge, OE witan to know] 1a: 
   MIND, MEMORY  1b: reasoning power : INTELLIGENCE  2a: SENSE - usu. used in 
   pl.  2b1: mental soundness : SANITY - usu. used in pl.  2b2: 
   RESOURCEFULNESS, INGENUITY  3a: ACUMEN, WISDOM  3b: the ability to relate 
   seemingly disparate things so as to illuminate or  amuse 3c1: a talent for 
   banter or persiflage  3c2: a facetious or satirical retort or comment  4a: 
   a man of superior intellect : THINKER  4b: an imaginatively perceptive and 
   articulate individual esp. skilled in b anter or persiflageM: WIT suggests 
   the power to evoke laughter by remarks showing verbal felicity or ingenuity 
   and swift perception esp. of the incongruous; HUMOR implies an ability to 
   perceive the ludicrous, the comical, and the absurd in human life and to 
   express these usu. without bitterness; IRONY applies to a manner of 
   expression in which the intended meaning is the opposite of what is 
   seemingly expressed; SARCASM applies to expression frequently in the form 
   of irony that is intended to cut or wound; SATIRE applies to writing that 
   exposes or ridicules conduct, doctrines, or institutions either by direct 
   criticism or more often through irony, parody, or caricature; REPARTEE 
   implies the power of answering quickly, pointedly, wittily, and often 
   humorously : at a loss  - at wit's end  SYN syn HUMOR, IRONY, SARCASM, 
   SATIRE, REPARTEE