English
whit
Whit comes from Old English wiht ‘wight, person, creature, being, whit, thing,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to say, tell’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-‘to say, tell’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekti-‘cause, sake, thing’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wihtą‘thing, creature’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wiht‘wight, person, creature, being, whit, thing, something, anything’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wiȝt
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596whit
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-‘to say, tell’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekti-‘cause, sake, thing’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wihtą‘thing, creature’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wiht‘wight, person, creature, being, whit, thing, something, anything’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wiȝt
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596whit
Earliest quotation: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame: “Star. I beleeue we muſt leaue the killing out,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to say, tell’
voice, epic, vocal, invite, invitation, vie, invoke, vox, vouch, invocation, vociferous, epos, 34 more
through Old English wiht ‘wight, person, creature, being, whit, thing,…’
Today it means
noun The smallest part or particle imaginable; an iota.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- / whit