Etymology

halfwit

H4A1L1F4W4I1T1

Today it means: Someone lacking in intelligence. Full definition →

English wit ← Middle English wit ← Old English witt
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The story

  1. Middle Englishhalf
  2. Englishhalf
  3. Proto-Indo-European*weyd-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*wóyde
  5. Proto-Germanic*witaną
  6. Proto-Germanic*witją
  7. Proto-West Germanic*witi
  8. Old Englishwitt
  9. Middle Englishwit
  10. Englishwit
  11. English todayhalfwit

From half + wit. First attested in 1607.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.