wist

W4I1S1T1
/wɪst/

verb

To know, be aware of.

OriginOld English witan ← Proto-Germanic *witaną ← Proto-Indo-European *weyd- →
UncommonScrabble 7
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Meanings

wist1

verb
  1. archaicparticiplepastsimple past and past participle of wit.

    a1796, Robert Burns, "Bonie Jean: A Ballad", in Poems and Songs, P.F. Collier & Son (1909–14), Bartleby.com (2001), http://www.bartleby.com/6/419.html, And lang ere witless Jeanie wist, / Her heart was tint, her peace was stown!

    1 more example

    Did the maledicent Bodyguard, getting (as was too inevitable) better malediction than he gave, load his musketoon, and threaten to fire; and actually fire? Were wise who wist!

    1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, (please specify the book or page number)

wist2

verbwist (third-person singular simple present wists, present participle wisting, simple past and past participle wisted)

present singular third person wists · participle present wisting · participle past wisted · past wisted

  1. nonstandardpseudo-archaicTo know, be aware of.

    […] speak to the man, and he wists not that his face doth shine.

    1890, Joseph Parker, The People's Bible: The Psalter, page 218

Origin

wist · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weyd-“see, know”
  2. Proto-Germanic*witaną
  3. Old Englishwitan
  4. Englishwist

Past indicative of wit: from Old English witan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see, know”). Cognate with Dutch weten, German wissen, Swedish veta, and Latin videō (“to see”). Compare guide.

More words from Old English, Proto-Germanic, Proto-Indo-European

Full word history & related roots →

wist · verb

A misunderstanding, or a joking use of the past indicative of wit; see Etymology 1.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with wist

listassistexisthististfisttwistconsistwristresistdismissedmistinsistpersistfristcystenlistgistdesistgristLisztcoexistbistpiste
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

whist (wine–whine merger)whist (wine–whine merger)

Anagrams

wits
Cite this entry
APA

wist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wist

MLA

“wist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wist. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wist,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wist.

Source: wist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.