wissadula

[Etym. doubtful.] Bot.: A genus of Malvese. Involucre none; calyx five-partite; petals five; capsule five-celled; seeds reniform. Shrubs from the tropics of Asia and America. Wi adula rostrata is a native of the Malay Peninsula, Java, tropical Africa and America, and is cultivated in Ceylon and India. The bark abounds in useful flaxen fibers; it also yields a good hemp. *wi e, *wise, v. t . [A. S. wisian; O. Low Ger. wise an; Icel. visa : O. H. Ger. wis an, wi an.] To teach, to show, to instruct. "Or we depart I shal thee so wel wi e , That of min hous ne shalt thou never mi e." Chaucer: C. T. , 6,993. wist, pret . & pa . par . of v . [WIT, υ.] wis-tär-i-a, subst . [Named after Caspar Wistar (1761-1818), Profe or of Anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania.] Bot.: A genus of Galegese. Climbing shrubs, with pinnate leaves, and axillary and terminal racemes of lilac-colored flowers. Two species are best known, Wistaria chinensis, from China, and W.frutescens , from North America. *wiste, pret . & pa . par . of v. [WIT, v.] wist-ful, a . [A word of doubtful origin. According to Skeat it is nothing more than a corruption of wishful , which was once common, and which it has supplanted. The change in form is probably due to confusion with wistly , which was itself a corruption of Mid. Eng. wisly (q. v.).] 1. Earnestly or eagerly attentive; carefully or anxiously observant. "These wistful myriads eye their prey." Scott : Don Roderick , Conc. v. 4. Full of thought; pensive, contemplative, thoughtful. "Why, Grubbinol, dost thou so wistful seem?" Gay: Pastorals, Friday 1. 3. Pensive or melancholy from the absence or want of something; earnest from a feeling of desire; longing. "I cast many a wistful , melancholy look toward the sea." Swift . (Todd.) wist-fül-ly, adv. [Eng. wistful; -ly.] 1. In a wistful manner; longingly, wishfully. "Wistfully she raised Her head from off her pillow to look forth." Words worth: Excursion, bk. i. 2. Earnestly, attentively. 3. Thoughtfully, musingly, pensively. wist-fül-ne , s . [English wistful ; -ne .] The quality or state of being wistful. †wis-ti-ti, s. [OUISTITI.] *wist-le , a. [Eng.wist; -le .] Unknowing. "Wistle what I did, half from the sheath Drew the well-tempered blade." Southey: Joan of Arc, bk. i. *wist-lý, adv. [WISTFUL.] 1. Observingly, attentively, earnestly, closely. 2. Wistfully, longingly. (A doubtful use.) The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia wit wit, *wit-en, *witte, *wy-ten, (pr. t. wot , wost, wot ; pl. witen; pa. t. * wist , * wiste , wyst , * wot , pa. par. wist ), v. i.ort. [A. S. witan to know (pr. t. ic wát , thú wást , he wat ; pl. wit on ; subj. sing. wite , pl. wit on ; pa. t. wiste , wi e ; 2d pers. wi es , pl. wist on ; pa. par.wist ) . Allied to witan =to see (pa. t. wite , pl. wit on ). It is clear that ic wat is really an old past tense (prob. of witan ), used as a present, causing the nece ity of creating a new past tense, wi e, or wiste which is, however, of great antiquity... The gerund is to witanne , whence Mod. English to wit . Cogn. with Dut. weten (p.t. wist , pa. par. geweten ); Icel. vita (pr. t. veit ; pa.t. vi a ; pa. par. vitadhr ); Dan. vide (pr. t. veed ; pa. t. vidste ; pa. par.vidst ) ; Sw.vet a (pr.t. vet ; pa.t. vi te ; pa. par. veten ); Ger. wi en (pr. t. wei ; pa. t. wu te; pa. par. gewu t ); Goth. witan (pr. t. wait ; pa. t. wi a ); Lat. video to see; Gr. ide in = to see; oida =I know; Sansc. vid to perceive, to know. Wit is the inf in. mood; to wit (as in "We do you to wit ") is the gerund; wot is the 1st and 3d pers. of the present indicative, the 3d person being often corruptly written wotteth ; wost (later form wottest ) is the 2d pers. sing. of the same tense; wiste (later wist ) , is tle pa. t., and wist is the pa. par. ( Skeat .)] 1. To know, to learn; to be or become aware. (Used either with or without an object.) (1) Infinitive: "And his sister stood afar off to wit what would be done an to him." - Exodus ii. 4. 2) Present tense: "I wot well where he is." (3) Past tense : Shakesp.: Romeo and Juliet, iii. 2. events cast their shadows before"-which, as he remarks, would be witty if it were not sublime. The awe and reverence awakened by the highest subjects connected with our faith also destroy the impre ion of wit; but in the works of many of our most eminent religious writers, and even in the Scriptures, may be found happy combinations, which, but for the sanctity of the subject, would awaken the sense of wit. An unexpected fitne , then, seems to form the e ence of wit; and as the same writer we have referred to observes, among the uneducated and children the same kind of feeling is often awakened by a combination of things as well as of thoughts, such as the putting together of a puzzle. (Trench: Synonyms.) 8. One who has genius, fancy, or humor; a person of learning and refined ideas; an accomplished scholar. "He did not, however, in the least affect the character of a wit or of an orator."-Macaulay: Hist. Eng ., ch. vii. 9. In modern usage one distinguished or noted for bright or amusing sayings; a humorist. "The wits and the Puritans had never been on friendly terms." -Macaulay : Hist . Eng . , ch. iii. 10. ( Pl .): The understanding, the intellect. "His wits are not so blunt." Shakesp.. Much Ado , iii. 5.