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whit

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whit¹

  • /wɪt/
  • /ʍɪt/

Sounds like wit (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -ɪt

Where it comes from

From Middle English wiȝt, wight, from Old English wiht (“wight, person, creature, being, whit, thing, something, anything”), from Proto-Germanic *wihtą (“thing, creature”) or *wihtiz (“essence, object”), from Proto-Indo-European *wekti- (“cause, sake, thing”), from *wekʷ- (“to say, tell”). Cognate with Old High German wiht (“creature, thing”), Dutch wicht, German Wicht. Doublet of wight.

noun whits

  1. dated, in the negative The smallest part or particle imaginable; an iota. 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.

    Similar: bit, iota, jot, scrap, ace, atom, thought, atomy, aught, bissel, continental, crumb

whit²

preposition

  1. pronunciation spelling Pronunciation spelling of with

Whit³

noun Whits

  1. Whitsunday. Holonyms: Pentecost, Whitsun, Whitsuntide, Whit (season)

    Similar: Pentecost, Whitsun

  2. The season of Whitsuntide. Meronyms: Pentecost, Whitsun, Whit (day)

    Similar: Pentecost, Whitsun, Whitsuntide

Whit⁴

Where it comes from

Shortening of the surname of Dick Whittington, London mayor who funded the rebuilding of the prison.

proper noun the Whit

  1. archaic, historical Newgate Prison in London, England (particularly as it was in the 15- and 1600s). A Bow Street Runner says "I knew a cove as talked the way you do – leastways, in the way of business I knew him! In fact, you remind me of him very strong […] He was on the dub-lay, and very clever with his fambles. He ended up in the Whit, o’ course."

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: smidgen, smidgeon, smidgin, smidge, shred, scintilla, tittle, iota, jot, hoot, whoo, atom, tu, lota, minute, minimal

Translations

Every language

noun smallest part imaginable

Españoltrocito
Françaisonce
Românăiotă
Русскиййо́та jóta, ка́пелька kápelʹka, чу́точка čútočka

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Cite this
MLA

"whit." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/whit. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

whit. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/whit

Chicago

"whit." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/whit.

BibTeX
@misc{whit_2026,
  title = {whit},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/whit},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}