# wit

> English word · Noun · IPA /wɪt/ · frequency rank #7,637

## Definitions
1. Sanity.
2. The senses.
3. Intellectual ability; faculty of thinking, reasoning.
4. The ability to think quickly; mental cleverness, especially under short time constraints.
5. Intelligence; common sense.
6. Humour, especially when clever or quick.
7. A person who tells funny anecdotes or jokes; someone witty.

## Etymology
From Middle English wit, from Old English witt (“understanding, intellect, sense, knowledge, consciousness, conscience”), from Proto-West Germanic *witi, from Proto-Germanic *witją (“knowledge, reason”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see, know”).
Cognate with Dutch wit (“knowledge”), German Witz (“joke; wit, humour”), Danish vid (“wit”), Norwegian Bokmål, Swedish vett (“wit”), Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌹 (unwiti, “ignorance”), Latin vīdī (“see (pf.)”), Bulgarian вям (vjam, “to know”), Russian ве́дать (védatʹ, “to know”), Sanskrit विद्या (vidyā, “knowledge, wisdom”). Compare wise.

## Easily confused with
- **Wu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wu)
- **wo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wo)
- **wt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wt)
- **WS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-ws)
- **WV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wv)
- **WL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wl)
- **wy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wy)
- **won** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-won)
- **wow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wow)
- **WTF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wtf)
- **WWE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wwe)
- **woo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-woo)
- **WWW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-www)
- **woe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-woe)
- **WTO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wto)
- **WWF** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wwf)
- **wiz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wiz)
- **wot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wot)
- **wut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wut)
- **WSJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wit-vs-wsj)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/wit