Meanings
comparative more wittingly · superlative most wittingly · alternative obsolete weetingly
- in a witting manner, intentionally, on purpose.
It muſt be ſo offended, it cannot be els, for heere lyes the poynt, if I drowne my ſelfe wittingly, it argues an act, & an act hath three branches, it is to act, to doe, to performe, or all; ſhe drownd her ſelfe wittingly.
c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], signature M, versoSynonyms: witfully · Antonyms: unwittingly
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishwetandly
- Englishwittingly
From Middle English wetandly, wettanly, wetyngly, witandly, witingeliche, wittandly, wittingli, wittingly, wityngli, wityngly, witynly, wytindeliche, wytyngly, equivalent to witting + -ly. Cognate with German wissentlich.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian съзнателно, преднамерено
- съзнателно (săznatelno)intentionally, on purpose
- преднамерено (prednamereno)intentionally, on purpose
Chinese Mandarin 明知
- 明知 (míngzhī)intentionally, on purpose
Irish i bhfios, go feasach
- i bhfiosintentionally, on purpose
- go feasachintentionally, on purpose
Cite this entry
wittingly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wittingly
“wittingly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wittingly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wittingly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wittingly.
Source: wittingly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.