Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An abbreviation of Wisconsin.
  • A spurious word, arising from a misunderstanding of the Middle English adverb iwis, often written i-wis, and in Middle English manuscripts i wis, I wis, whence it has been taken as the pronoun I with a verb wis, vaguely regarded as connected with wit (which has a preterit wist). See iwis, and, for the real verb, see wit.
  • Certainly; truly; indeed: same as iwis.
  • Certain; sure: especially in the phrases to wisse, for certain, certainly; mid wisse, with certainty.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb Obs. or Poetic To think; to suppose; to imagine; -- used chiefly in the first person sing. present tense, I wis. See the Note under ywis.
  • adverb obsolete Certainly; really; indeed.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To know.
  • verb To think, suppose.
  • verb To imagine, ween; to deem.
  • adverb rare Certainly, surely
  • adverb rare Really, truly
  • adverb rare Indeed
  • adjective rare Certain
  • adjective rare Sure

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From an incorrect division, mistaking iwis ("certain") for I wis ("I know"). See ywis for more information. The German verb wissen appears similar, but in fact corresponds etymologically to the English verb wit; both of those verbs are only indirectly related to this one.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English wis ("certain, sure"), from an aphetic form of Middle English iwis, ywis ("certain, sure") (from Old English ġewiss ("certain, sure")), or of North Germanic origin, akin to Icelandic viss ("certain"). More at ywis.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word wis.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • (v): to know

    November 21, 2007