(a) The mind as the seat of thought, consciousness, etc.; thought; also, the mind of God; (b) mental disposition, spirit; (c) the mental capacity or inclination to do something; an inclination; ~ and wille; ~ of understondinge; don ~, to exercise (one’s) mental capacity; (d) consciousness; (e) awareness; gostli ~, spiritual awareness.

(a) Human reason; the human capacity for thought; innere (kindeli) ~; (b) pl. the mental powers comprising the human intellect; the abilities to judge, remember, understand, etc.; also as allegorical dramatic figures [quot. c1475 Wisd., 1st]; gostli (inward) wittes; (c) the faculty of understanding; understanding; also, judgment; also, an animal’s ability to understand; innere ~, a mental faculty; with min ~, in my judgment; yeven ~ to, to pay attention to (sth.); (d) soundness of mind, sanity; soundness of judgment; also, self-possession; ~ stat; god (hole) ~; in ~, in ful (right) wittes;—used esp. in legal formulas; (e) at (to) wittes ende, in (into) a state of perplexity; of (oute of, wode oute of) ~, of (oute of) wittes, etc., out of (one’s) mind, in or into a state of derangement, beside oneself; haven wittes, to be sane; thi ~ stondeth acroke, you are deranged; (f) oute of wit, used adverbially: wildly, madly; beyond reason, inordinately; also, extremely.

(a) Mental ability, intelligence; wisdom; also, learning, knowledge; also, a mental ability; also, a branch of learning [quot. a1450]; ~ and wisdom; ~ of understondinge; ~ skil, the ability to discriminate; self ~ [see self-witte n.]; (b) skillfulness; also in fig. context [quot. c1400(c1378)]; a skill; also, cleverness; also, a craft or discipline; (c) prudence; also, mature discretion; natural ~; ben of ~, to be of an age to possess mature discretion; (d) Christ, as the wisdom of God; (e) gostli ~, spiritual wisdom; kinde (kindeli, natural, etc.) ~, native intelligence; the basic human ability to reason, judge, etc., common sense; also, the equivalent capacity in animals [quot. c1400(?a1387)]; also as allegorical figure [quot. c1400(c1378)]; kinde (kindeli) wittes, reasoning abilities; (f) after thin ~, to your knowledge; bi (to) min ~, etc., to my knowledge, to my mind, as far as I know; nimen (inimen) ~ of, to learn from (sb. or sth.); taken ~ bi, ascertain a fact through (evidence); as fer as ich have ~, to the best of my ability; (g) in proverbs and prov. expressions; (h) as an allegorical figure [cp. (a)].

(a) The faculty of the brain that processes sensory information, sensitive faculty; commune ~; (b) perception, esp. sensory perception; also, a sensory impression [quot. c1450]; ~ of the bodi, bodilich (sensual, the outre) ~; from ~ to ~, cautiously; (c) a sense, one of the five senses; also, a bodily power; wittes five, five (bodilich, outwarde, etc.) wittes; (d) commune wittes, inward bodilich (sensitif) wittes, the powers of the mind that process sensory information; gostli wittes, the powers of the mind that process sensory information; also, the mental powers that form spiritual impressions; wittes of herte, ?feelings, emotions; wittes of the soule.

A strategy, course of action, etc., esp. one showing wisdom or ingenuity; also, a contrivance.

(a) Opinion, belief; an opinion; in wittes twein, of divided opinion; (b) a dictum, pronouncement; (c) counsel, advice; also, inspiration; (d) meaning, significance; also, interpretation; a meaning, sense; also, an interpretation.

In surnames.