wite

W4I1T1E1
/waɪt/

verb

To regard (someone) as guilty; to accuse; to blame; to fault.

OriginMiddle English wīten ← Old English wītan ← Proto-West Germanic *wītan →
UncommonScrabble 7
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Meanings

wite1

verbwite (third-person singular simple present wites, present participle witing, simple past and past participle wited)

present singular third person wites · participle present witing · participle past wited · past wited · alternative wyte

  1. To regard (someone) as guilty; to accuse; to blame; to fault.

    [H]e gan fovvly vvyte / His vvicked fortune, that had turnd aſlope, / And curſed night, that reſt from him ſo goodly ſcope.

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 52, page 459
  2. To censure (someone); to mulct; to reproach.

    [U]niuſtly thou doeſt vvyte them all, / For that vvhich thou miſlikedſt in a fevv.

    1595, Ed. Spencer [i.e., Edmund Spenser], Colin Clouts Come Home Againe, London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, signature D3, verso
  3. To guard (something); to keep; to observe, preserve, or protect.

wite2

nounwite (plural wites)

plural wites

  1. Blame; responsibility; guilt.

    Nor I will not suffer mine indignation so to witwanton with fair justice as persuade me to put the wite on Witchland.

    1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, chapter 209, in The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC
  2. Punishment; penalty; fine; bote; mulct.

wite3

verbwite (third-person singular simple present wites, present participle witing, simple past and past participle wited)

present singular third person wites · participle present witing · participle past wited · past wited

  1. poeticotherwise obsoleteTo go; go away; depart; perish; vanish.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
blame

Origin

wite · verb

  1. Proto-Germanic*wītaną
  2. Proto-West Germanic*wītan
  3. Old Englishwītan“to look, behold, see, guard, keep, impute or ascribe to, accuse, reproach, blame”
  4. Middle Englishwīten“to accuse, reproach, punish, suspect”
  5. Englishwite

From Middle English wīten (“to accuse, reproach, punish, suspect”), Old English wītan (“to look, behold, see, guard, keep, impute or ascribe to, accuse, reproach, blame”), from Proto-West Germanic *wītan, from Proto-Germanic *wītaną. Connected to Old English wīte, see below.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

wite · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weyd-“to see, find, behold”
  2. Proto-Germanic*wītiją
  3. Proto-West Germanic*wītī
  4. Old Englishwīte“punishment, pain, torment”
  5. Middle Englishwite“guilt, blameworthiness, blame, wrongdoing, misdeed, offense, punishment, retribution, fine, bote, customary rent”
  6. Englishwite

From Middle English wite (“guilt, blameworthiness, blame, wrongdoing, misdeed, offense, punishment, retribution, fine, bote, customary rent”), from Old English wīte (“punishment, pain, torment”), from Proto-West Germanic *wītī, from Proto-Germanic *wītiją, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, find, behold”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

wite · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weyd-“to see, find, behold”
  2. Proto-Germanic*wītaną
  3. Proto-West Germanic*wītan
  4. Old Englishwītan“to see, accuse, go, depart”
  5. Middle Englishwiten
  6. Englishwite

From Middle English witen, from Old English wītan (“to see, accuse, go, depart”), from Proto-West Germanic *wītan, from Proto-Germanic *wītaną, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, find, behold”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with wite

sitecopyrightrightnightlightwritemightquiteflightfightheightdespitetonightbrightsightovernightwrightknightinvitelitebyteslightfinitecite
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

wightwhite (wine–whine merger)wightwhite (wine–whine merger)wightwhite (wine–whine merger)
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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