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𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽

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Etymology and origin of the Gothic word 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽

𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽1 know

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
340–380 Wulfila's Bible translation
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *witaną
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *weyd-
Etymology tree of 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽1
inherited borrowed derived
Proto-Germanic *witaną
Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (witan)
Old Norse vita
Proto-West Germanic *witan
Dutch weten
German wissen
Old English wītan

Forms

𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (witan), a preterite-present verb: the present has the form of a preterite, 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍄 (wait) "I know, he knows", plural 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌿𐌼 (witum), and a new weak preterite 𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍃𐌰 (wissa) was formed.[1][2][3] The most frequent forms in the Wulfila project's count are wait (41 times), 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌿𐌸 (wituþ, 21), the participle witandans (16), witum (14) and witands (13); the infinitive witan occurs three times and the second person singular 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄 (waist) three times.[4]

Etymology

The word for "know" is inherited from Proto-Germanic *witaną (“to know”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”).[5] Orel takes the present to continue the Indo-European perfect of that root, the same formation as Ancient Greek οἶδα (oîda, “I know”), beside Latin videō (“to see”) and Old Prussian waist (“to know”).[6] Uhlenbeck and Lehmann explain the meaning "know" from "have seen".[7][2] The Germanic cognates are Old Norse vita, Old English witan, Old Frisian wita, Old Saxon witan and Old High German wizzan.[7]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 150 tokens, 35 of them ambiguous, and Köbler 134; the verb occurs in all four Gospels and in most of the Pauline epistles, most often in John (36) and 2 Corinthians (25).[4][8] The records are in manuscripts CA, A, B, C and Car.[4] In canonical order the first is the optative witi at Matthew 6:3 in CA.[4] Of PROIEL's 129 tokens, 107 render Ancient Greek οἶδα (oîda) and 15 γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō), with single cases for ἐπίσταμαι (epístamai) and μανθάνω (manthánō).[9] Ni witan renders ἀγνοέω (agnoéō).[9][8] At Matthew 6:8: "wait auk atta izwar þizei jus þaurbuþ", "for your father knows what you need".[10]

Meanings

  1. to know, have knowledge of, for εἰδέναι and γιγνώσκειν[1][8][5]
  2. to learn, for μανθάνειν[11][9]
  3. (with ni) not to know, be ignorant, for ἀγνοεῖν[8]

Word family

  • 𐌼𐌹𐌸𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (miþwitan, “to be aware of”)
  • 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍃 (unwiss)
  • 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰 (unwita)
  • 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (unwitands)
  • 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌹 (unwiti)
  • 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍄𐌴𐌹 (waitei)
  • 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌿𐌱𐌽𐌹 (witubni)
  • 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐍉𐌸 (witōþ)

𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽2 watch over

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
340–380 Wulfila's Bible translation
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *witāną
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *weyd-

Forms

𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (witan), a weak verb of the third class, construed with the dative.[1][12][13] The recorded forms include the preterite 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌰 (witaida), the preterite plural 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌴𐌳𐌿𐌽 (witaidedun), the present 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌸 (witaiþ) and the participles witands and witandans.[4][14]

Etymology

The word for "watch over" is inherited from Proto-Germanic *witāną (“to observe”), formed from the root of the verb "to know" with the third-class suffix.[5] Kroonen derives it from a stative Proto-Indo-European *uid-éh₁-, formally identical with Latin videō (“to see”) and Slavic "to see".[15] Lehmann and Orel derive it from the preterite-present verb "to know".[16][17] The cognates are Old English witian, Old High German gi-wizzēn and the Old Norse participle vitaðr (“known”).[15][17]

Attestation

The Wulfila project counts 38 tokens, 30 of them ambiguous (mostly participles that may belong to "to know"); Köbler counts 12 and PROIEL 11.[4][18][9] The records are in the Gospels and in the epistles, in manuscripts CA, A and B, and the first is at Matthew 27:54 in CA.[4] PROIEL aligns it with Ancient Greek παρατηρέω (paratēréō) three times, with τηρέω (tēréō), ἀσφαλίζω (asphalízō) and φυλάσσω (phulássō) twice each, and once each with συντηρέω (suntēréō) and φρουρέω (phrouréō).[9]

Meanings

  1. to watch, keep watch over, guard, for τηρεῖν and φρουρεῖν[1][19][18]
  2. to observe, keep (days, laws)[19][20]
  3. to watch closely, lie in wait for, for παρατηρεῖν[21][19]
  4. to protect; to be on one's guard against[21]

Word family

  • 𐌰𐍄𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (atwitains, “observation”)
  • 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (gawitan)

References

  1. ^ a b c d Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. witan
  2. ^ a b Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. 1. witan
  3. ^ Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 88
  4. ^ a b c d e f g De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be
  5. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽
  6. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 441
  7. ^ a b Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. s.v. witan
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. witan 1
  9. ^ a b c d e Haug, Dag T. T. et al., PROIEL Treebank: The Gothic Bible (gothic-nt), 2023 release, Pragmatic Resources in Old Indo-European Languages, University of Oslo
  10. ^ De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be, p. Mt 6:8
  11. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1868), A Moeso-Gothic Glossary, with an Introduction, an Outline of Moeso-Gothic Grammar, and a List of Anglo-Saxon and Old and Modern English Words Etymologically Connected with Moeso-Gothic, London: Asher, p. s.v. witan
  12. ^ Braune, Wilhelm; Heidermanns, Frank (2004), Gotische Grammatik, mit Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, 20th ed., Sammlung kurzer Grammatiken germanischer Dialekte A 1, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. 303
  13. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. witan
  14. ^ Miller, D. Gary (2019), The Oxford Gothic Grammar, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 121
  15. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 589
  16. ^ Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. 2. witan
  17. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 463
  18. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. witan 2
  19. ^ a b c Balg, G. H. (1887–1889), A Comparative Glossary of the Gothic Language, with Especial Reference to English and German, Mayville, Wis.: the author, p. 564
  20. ^ Lambdin, Thomas O. (2006), An Introduction to the Gothic Language, Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, p. 187
  21. ^ a b Stamm, Friedrich Ludwig; Heyne, Moriz (1920), Ulfilas oder die uns erhaltenen Denkmäler der gotischen Sprache: Text, Wörterbuch und Grammatik, 13th–14th ed. by Ferdinand Wrede, Paderborn: Schöningh, p. 492

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/got/%F0%90%8D%85%F0%90%8C%B9%F0%90%8D%84%F0%90%8C%B0%F0%90%8C%BD. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

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