wit
1
[ wit ]
/ wɪt /
noun
the keen perception and cleverly apt expression of those connections between ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure.
speech or writing showing such perception and expression.
a person having or noted for such perception and expression.
understanding, intelligence, or sagacity; astuteness.
Usually wits.
- powers of intelligent observation, keen perception, ingenious contrivance, or the like; mental acuity, composure, and resourcefulness: using one's wits to get ahead.
- mental faculties; senses: to lose one's wits; frightened out of one's wits.
Idioms for wit
Origin of wit
1
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English: “mind, thought”; cognate with German
Witz, Old Norse
vit; akin to
wit2
SYNONYMS FOR wit
synonym study for wit
See
humor.
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH wit
whit witWords nearby wit
Definition for at one's wit's end (2 of 2)
Origin of end
1
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English
ende; cognate with Old Frisian
enda, Middle Dutch
e(i)nde, Old Saxon
endi, Old High German
anti, German
Ende, Old Norse
endi(r), Gothic
andeis “end,” from unattested Germanic
anthjá-; akin to Sanskrit
ánta- “end”
synonym study for end
5.
End,
close,
conclusion,
finish,
outcome refer to the termination of something.
End implies a natural termination or completion, or an attainment of purpose:
the end of a day, of a race; to some good end.
Close often implies a planned rounding off of something in process:
the close of a conference.
Conclusion suggests a decision or arrangement:
All evidence leads to this conclusion; the conclusion of peace terms.
Finish emphasizes completion of something begun:
a fight to the finish.
Outcome suggests the issue of something that was in doubt:
the outcome of a game.
7. See
aim.
OTHER WORDS FROM end
end·er, nounBritish Dictionary definitions for at one's wit's end (1 of 4)
end
1
/ (ɛnd) /
noun
verb
See also
end up
Derived forms of end
ender, nounWord Origin for end
Old English
ende; related to Old Norse
endir, Gothic
andeis, Old High German
endi, Latin
antiae forelocks, Sanskrit
antya last
British Dictionary definitions for at one's wit's end (2 of 4)
end
2
/ (ɛnd) /
verb
(tr) British
to put (hay or grain) into a barn or stack
Word Origin for end
Old English
innian; related to Old High German
innōn; see
inn
British Dictionary definitions for at one's wit's end (3 of 4)
wit
1
/ (wɪt) /
noun
See also
wits
Word Origin for wit
Old English
witt; related to Old Saxon
giwitt, Old High German
wizzi (German
Witz), Old Norse
vit, Gothic
witi. See
wit ²
British Dictionary definitions for at one's wit's end (4 of 4)
wit
2
/ (wɪt) /
verb
archaic
to be or become aware of (something)
adverb
to wit
that is to say; namely (used to introduce statements, as in legal documents)
Word Origin for wit
Old English
witan; related to Old High German
wizzan (German
wissen), Old Norse
vita, Latin
vidēre to see
Idioms and Phrases with at one's wit's end (1 of 3)
at one's wit's end
Also, at wits' end. Completely puzzled and perplexed, not knowing what to do. For example, I've tried every possible source without success, and now I'm at my wit's end. This idiom, which uses wit in the sense of “mental faculties,” appeared in Piers Ploughman (c. 1377).
Idioms and Phrases with at one's wit's end (2 of 3)
end
Idioms and Phrases with at one's wit's end (3 of 3)
wit
see at one's wit's end; have one's wits about one; live by one's wits; scare out of one's wits; to wit.