wissen

See also: Wissen

Bavarian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle High German wiȥȥen, from Old High German wiȥȥan, from Proto-West Germanic *witan. Cognates include German wissen and Luxembourgish wëssen.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈvisn̩/
  • Hyphenation: wis‧sen

Verb

wissen

  1. (transitive) to know
    • 1938, Josef Weinheber, Wien wörtlich, Sieg der Provinz:
      I waaß net, es gibt so vü' Dichter in Wien,
      und ålle geehrt und berühmt.
      I didn't know there were so many poets in Vienna,
      and all honorable and famous.

References

  • Maria Hornung, Sigmar Grüner (2002) “wissn”, in Wörterbuch der Wiener Mundart, 2nd edition, ÖBV & HPT

Dutch

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʋɪ.sə(n)/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: wis‧sen
  • Rhymes: -ɪsən

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch wisschen, from Old Dutch *wisken, from Proto-Germanic *wiskijaną.

Verb

wissen

  1. (transitive) to erase
Conjugation
Conjugation of wissen (weak)
infinitive wissen
past singular wiste
past participle gewist
infinitive wissen
gerund wissen n
present tense past tense
1st person singular wis wiste
2nd person sing. (jij) wist, wis2 wiste
2nd person sing. (u) wist wiste
2nd person sing. (gij) wist wiste
3rd person singular wist wiste
plural wissen wisten
subjunctive sing.1 wisse wiste
subjunctive plur.1 wissen wisten
imperative sing. wis
imperative plur.1 wist
participles wissend gewist
1) Archaic. 2) In case of inversion.
Derived terms

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

wissen

  1. plural of wis

German

Etymology

From Middle High German wiȥȥen and Old High German wiȥȥan, from Proto-West Germanic *witan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European *wóyde (to see, to know).

Compare Dutch weten, Danish vide, Swedish veta, English wit and Latin videō (to see).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈvɪsn̩/, /ˈvɪsən/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio:(file)
  • Audio (Bavaria):(file)
  • Hyphenation: wis‧sen

Verb

wissen (preterite-present, third-person singular present weiß, past tense wusste, past participle gewusst, past subjunctive wüsste, auxiliary haben)

  1. (transitive or intransitive) to know; to be aware of (a fact)
    Ich weiß, wo du bist.
    I know where you are.
    von etwas wissento know about something
    1. (transitive, higher register) to be assured that something or someone is in a certain state
      sich in Sicherheit wissento be assured that one is safe
      die Wählerschaft hinter sich wissento be assured of the electorate's support
      Ich will einfach nur meine Kinder in guten Händen wissen.All I want is to be sure that my children are in good hands.
  2. to remember (with noch)
    • 1960, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Schneeschmelze:
      »Als er neun Jahre alt war«, sagte die Frau, »hat er mich zum ersten Mal geschlagen. Weißt du noch?«
      "When he was nine," said the woman, "he hit me for the first time. Do you remember?"

Usage notes

  • See kennen for the distinction between this verb and wissen.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

  • wissen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • wissen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • wissen” in Duden online
  • wissen” in OpenThesaurus.de
  • wissen on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de

Middle English

Verb

wissen

  1. To be familiar with.
    • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Freres Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, [], [London]: [] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes [], 1542, →OCLC:
      Or we depart I shal thee so wel wisse / That of min hous ne shalt thou never misse
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 1475, [unknown translator], Sidrak and Bokkus, translation of Livre de la fontaine de toutes sciences
      Shullen men chastice wymmen and wisse / Wiþ betyng whan þei done amisse?
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)