whit
see also: Whit
Etymology 1
Whit
Noun
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see also: Whit
Etymology 1
From Middle English wiȝt, wight, from Old English wiht, from Proto-Germanic *wihtą or *wihtiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wekti-, from *wekʷ-.
Pronunciation- enPR: wĭt, hwĭt, IPA: /wɪt/, /ʍɪt/
whit (plural whits)
- The smallest part or particle imaginable; an iota.
- Synonyms: bit, iota, jot, scrap, Thesaurus:modicum
- c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene iii], page 151 ↗:
- Star. I beleeue we muſt leaue the killing out, when all is done.
Bot. Not a whit: I haue a deuice to make all well.
- 1917, Countee Cullen, Incident:
- Now I was eight and very small, / And he was no whit bigger / And so I smiled, but he poked out / His tongue, and called me, 'Nigger.'
- Pronunciation spelling of with
Whit
Noun
whit (plural whits)
- The season of Whitsuntide.
Shortening of the surname of Dick Whittington, London mayor who funded the rebuilding of the prison.
Proper noun- (originally, thieves, now, archaic or historical) Newgate Prison in London, England (particularly as it was in the 15- and 1600s).
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