witen

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch wītan, from Proto-Germanic *wītaną.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈwiːtən/

Verb

witen

  1. to blame, to hold accountable
  2. to cause harm

Inflection

Conjugation of witen (strong class 1)
infinitive base form witen
genitive witens
dative witene
indicative subjunctive
present past present past
1st person singular wite wêet wite wēte
2nd person singular wijts, wites wēets, wētes wijts, wites wētes
3rd person singular wijt, witet wêet wite wēte
1st person plural witen wēten witen wēten
2nd person plural wijt, witet wēet, wētet wijt, witet wētet
3rd person plural witen wēten witen wēten
imperative
singular wijt, wite
plural wijt, witet
present past
participle witende gewēten

Descendants

  • Dutch: wijten
  • Limburgish: wiete

Further reading

  • witen”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “witen”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old English witan, weotan, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (see, know). Cognate with Dutch weten, German wissen, and Swedish veta.

Verb

witen (third-person singular simple present woot, present participle witynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative wiste, past participle witen)

  1. to know (a fact with certainty):
    god wotGod only knows
  2. to be aware (of a situation, fact, etc.):
    1. to have a full understanding (of something)
    2. to be aware (of someone's location)
  3. to recognise; to comprehend (something):
    1. to perceive; to notice (something)
    2. to discern; to distinguish (something from another)
  4. to experience, to be familiar with (something):
    for ought ich wotas far as I know
    1. to know (to do, to say)
    2. to know how (to do)
    3. to know (that something will happen)
  5. to know about (a topic)
  6. to find out; to become aware
  7. to ask; to question
  8. to be confident (something is the case or will happen)
  9. (rare) to make known

Conjugation

Conjugation of witen (preterite-present)
infinitive (to) witen, wite, wote
present tense past tense
1st-person singular woot wiste
2nd-person singular woost wistest
3rd-person singular woot wiste
subjunctive singular wite, wote
imperative singular
plural1 witen, wite, woten, wote wisten, wiste
imperative plural witeth, wite, woteth, wote
participles witynge, witende witen, wite, wist

1 Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

References

Old English

Verb

witen

  1. past participle of witan