eldertongue

Old English · verb

witan

Part of speech
verb
IPA
/ˈwi.tɑn/
Syllables
ˈwi · tɑn (2 syllables)
Modern English
witeweetwitknow

witan1 · noun · inflected form

Senses

  1. nominative plural of wita

  2. Inflected form of wita

witan2 · verb

Senses

  1. to know, be aware of

    be hwāmhwugu witan

    to know about something

  2. to feel a certain emotion

    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.

    c. 900, translation of Orosius' History Against the Pagans

Conjugation

Conjugation of witan
PresentPast
Indicative
1st singular wātwissewiste
2nd singular wāstwissestwistest
3rd singular wātwissewiste
Plural witonwissonwiston
Subjunctive
Singular witewissewiste
Plural witenwissenwisten
Non-finite forms of witan
Form
Infinitive witan
Inflected infinitive witenne
Imperative singular wite
Imperative plural witaþ
Present participle witende
Past participle witenġewiten

witan3 · verb

Senses

  1. to blame, accuse, reproach

Conjugation

Conjugation of witan
PresentPast
Indicative
1st singular wītewāt
2nd singular wītstwite
3rd singular wīttwītwāt
Plural wītaþwiton
Subjunctive
Singular wītewite
Plural wītenwiten
Non-finite forms of witan
Form
Infinitive wītan
Inflected infinitive wītenne
Imperative singular wīt
Imperative plural wītaþ
Present participle wītende
Past participle witenġewiten

All forms (27)

Etymology

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

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

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

Descendants

weet, wit, wite

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/witan · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution