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wis

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wis¹

  • /waɪs/

Rhymes with -aɪs

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English wis (“certain, sure”), from an aphetic form of Middle English iwis, ywis (“certain, sure”) (from Old English ġewiss (“certain, sure”)), or of North Germanic origin, cognate with Icelandic viss (“certain, sure”), Dutch gewis (“certain, sure”), and German gewiss (“certain, sure”). Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gawissaz. More at iwis.

adverb more wis · most wis

  1. dialectal, obsolete, rare Certainly, surely. So I wis would the Dragon under him […]
  2. dialectal, obsolete, rare Really, truly.
  3. dialectal, obsolete, rare Indeed. As wis God help me.

adjective more wis · most wis

  1. dialectal, obsolete, rare Certain.
  2. dialectal, obsolete, rare Sure. He was wis on his word.

wis²

  • /waɪs/

Rhymes with -aɪs

Where it comes from

From an incorrect division, mistaking iwis (“certain”) for I wis (“I know”). See ywis for more information. The German verb wissen may appear similar, but in fact corresponds etymologically to the English verb wit; both of those verbs ultimately descend from the same Proto-Indo-European root as this one.

verb wis · wist · wissed

  1. archaic, no past, no present participle, obsolete To know. "The fire seven times tried this: / Seven times tried that judgement is, / That did never choose amiss. / Some there be that shadows kiss: / Such have but a shadow's bliss. / There be fools alive, I wis, / Silver'd o'er; and so was this. / I will ever be your head: / So be gone: you are sped."
  2. archaic, no past, no present participle, obsolete To think, suppose. Howe'er you wis.
  3. archaic, no past, no present participle, obsolete To imagine, ween; to deem. And oh, that I should see that star remote / Yet His near Glory miss / Whereto the sun itself and stars do float / As motes, I wis!

wis³

  • /waɪs/

Rhymes with -aɪs

Where it comes from

Clipping of wisdom.

noun

  1. abbreviation, clipping, uncountable, usually Clipping of wisdom I often like to have discordant scores, e.g., low wis and high int. One of my current characters has a high int (16) but a low wis (8).

WIS⁴

noun

  1. abbreviation, uncountable Abbreviation of wisdom point

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: mrs, gis, wais, kee, sa, wi, wisconsin, wes, weiss, grs, sarg, srg, iwis, i wiss, ywis, certie

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{wis_2026,
  title = {wis},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wis},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}