to wit


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wit 1

(wĭt)
n.
1.
a. The natural ability to perceive and understand; intelligence.
b. often wits Practical intelligence; shrewdness or resourcefulness: living by one's wits.
c. wits Sound mental faculties; sanity: scared out of my wits.
d. Archaic A person of exceptional intelligence.
2.
a. The ability to express oneself intelligently in a playful or humorous manner, often in overturning audience expectations: a writer with a scintillating wit.
b. A person noted for this ability, especially in conversation: "My mother, the family wit and teaser, knew better than to joke about the disaster" (Donald Hall).
c. Intelligent playfulness or humor in expression, as in speech, writing, or art: novels known for their wit and inventiveness.
Idioms:
at (one's) wits' end
At the limit of one's mental resources; utterly at a loss.
have (or keep) (one's) wits about (one)
To remain alert or calm, especially in a crisis.
[Middle English, from Old English; see weid- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

wit 2

 (wĭt)
v. wist (wĭst), wit·ting (wĭt′ĭng), first and third person singular present tense wot (wŏt) Archaic
v.tr.
To be or become aware of; learn.
v.intr.
To know.
Idiom:
to wit
That is to say; namely.
[Middle English, from Old English witan; see weid- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adv.1.to wit - as follows
namely, that is to say, videlicet, viz.
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
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References in periodicals archive ?
55, Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur, in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, as an officer of a public body, to wit, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Malaysia and the Chairman of the Advisory Board of 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), did use your position for a gratification for yourself totalling RM60,629,839.43, by taking the following action to wit:
The 25 corruption and money-laundering charges against Najib Razak, former prime minister of Malaysia
One might expect a book on the politics of wit and the significance of ridicule in public discourse to begin with the third Earl of Shaftesbury on "ridicule as the test of truth." However, not only does the author of this study reveal that Shaftesbury never used that phrase himself, but we have to wait until chapter 4 for a discussion of Shaftesbury's claims that subjecting even the most sacred subjects to wit and ridicule was both a mark of gentility and an important philosophical tool.
Ridicule, Religion and the Politics of Wit in Augustan England
Accordingly, I take the main lines of the debate as read and, in the third section of this paper, only draw from the vast bibliography of primary and secondary sources what is most germane to a consideration of industry in relation to wit. Before that, however, the next section offers a sketch of the relative status of wit and industry in the century and a half that preceded the eruption of the wit debate around 1700.
"Living by Wit" y "Knight of Industry": apuntes acerca de la historia contenida en dos metaforas muertas
If renal tolerance to WIT is increased to 60 minutes, these findings will have significant implications for performing laparoscopic partial nephrectomies.
Renal histopathology features according to various warm ischemia times in porcine laparoscopic and open surgery model

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