wit
Meaning
-
- white
- legally obtained by having paid the appropriate taxes
- (Suriname) having a white skin colour, light-skinned (see usage note)
- (Suriname) having a relatively light skin colour
- (archaic) clear-lighted, not dark at all
Concepts
Synonyms
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/ʋɪt/
Etymology
From Middle Dutch wit, from Old Dutch *wit, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīt, from Proto-Germanic *hwittaz. The geminate is unexpected as the usual Proto-Germanic form is *hwītaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweytos (“shine; bright”). The geminate is sometimes explained as being the result of Kluge's law, thus from a pre-Germanic *kweyd-nos.
New
witten
- to whiten, bleach
- to guise something illegal as legal, e.g. to launder (money)
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Notes