English word origin

Etymology of wiss

Perhaps an alteration of wis, taken from the incorrect division of iwis (“surely, certainly”) as "I wis", and mistaken for a verb; see wis. Perhaps from (certainly akin to) Old English witan (“to know”); see wit.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

verb

To know; to understand.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Cognate mentionwitanang · to know

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "witan",
        "t": "to know"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English witan (“to know”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "wis",
      "wis#English"
    ],
    [
      "iwis",
      "iwis#English"
    ],
    [
      "wis",
      "wis#Etymology_2"
    ],
    [
      "witan",
      "witan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "wit",
      "wit#Etymology_2"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To know; to understand."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic"
      ],
      "recordId": "3448a79a741d33bce3060ed3f820c74a4cb5dfec84e5d9ef5349dd7a1b3ce21c",
      "rawRecordSha256": "fd95b20a44258c9d5a7d9567eb1ddeb366555d797a8ab75fb5eeac8411235b6f",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 853322
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for wiss →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-d2lzcw