I wiss

adverb

surely, certainly; indeed, assuredly

“I take him for some fiend, I wiss. — Grim, the Collier of Croydon, author unknown.”

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Meanings

adverbI wiss (not comparable)

alternative I wuss · alternative I wis

  1. archaicnot comparablepoeticsurely, certainly; indeed, assuredly

    I take him for some fiend, I wiss. — Grim, the Collier of Croydon, author unknown.

    2 more examples

    To tell the truth, I'm well informed / Yon match is a wile; The sheriff, I wiss, devises this / Us archers to beguile.

    1904, Child, Sargent, Kittredge, English and Scottish popular ballads

    Such wholesome directions doth the bishop of Rome give unto those that will be ruled by him : far different (I wiss) from that holy doctrine, wherewith the Church of Rome was at first seasoned by the apostles [...]

    1631, James Ussher, Charles Richard Elrington, The whole works: Volume 4

Origin

From an incorrect assumption made by editors where i-wiss, iwis (“certainly, for sure”) was hypercorrected to I wiss, as if wiss were a verb and I were the pronoun I. See also wiss, wis, iwis.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

I wiss. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/I%20wiss

MLA

“I wiss.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/I%20wiss. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “I wiss,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/I%20wiss.

Source: I wiss on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.