What is "witting"

Wit \Wit\ (w[i^]t), v. t. & i. [inf. (To) Wit; pres. sing. Wot; pl. Wite; imp. Wist(e); p. p. Wist; p. pr. & vb. n. Wit(t)ing. See the Note below.] [OE. witen, pres. ich wot, wat, I know (wot), imp. wiste, AS. witan, pres. w[=a]t, imp. wiste, wisse; akin to OFries. wita, OS. witan, D. weten, G. wissen, OHG. wizzan, Icel. vita, Sw. veta, Dan. vide, Goth. witan to observe, wait I know, Russ. vidiete to see, L. videre, Gr. ?, Skr. vid to know, learn; cf. Skr. vid to find. ????. Cf. History, Idea, Idol, -oid, Twit, Veda, Vision, Wise,

1. & n., Wot.] To know; to learn. ``I wot and wist alway.''
   --Chaucer.

   Note: The present tense was inflected as follows; sing. 1st pers. wot; 2d pers. wost, or wot(t)est; 3d pers. wot, or wot(t)eth; pl. witen, or wite. The following variant forms also occur; pres. sing. 1st & 3d pers. wat, woot; pres. pl. wyten, or wyte, weete, wote, wot; imp. wuste (Southern dialect); p. pr. wotting. Later, other variant or corrupt forms are found, as, in Shakespeare, 3d pers. sing. pres. wots.

   Brethren, we do you to wit [make you to know] of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.
   --2 Cor. viii. 1.

   Thou wost full little what thou meanest.
   --Chaucer.

   We witen not what thing we prayen here.
   --Chaucer.

   When that the sooth in wist.
   --Chaucer.

   Note: This verb is now used only in the infinitive, to wit, which is employed, especially in legal language, to call attention to a particular thing, or to a more particular specification of what has preceded, and is equivalent to namely, that is to say.

"aware," mid-14c. (implied in wytindeliche (adv.)), present participle adjective from wit (v.). Related: Wittingly.

Etymology 1 n. (context obsolete English) knowledge, awareness. Etymology 2

1. aware, knowledgable v

2. (present participle of wit English)

1. adj. aware or knowing; "a witting tool of the Communists" [syn: aware] [ant: unwitting]

2. intentionally conceived; "a conscious effort to speak more slowly"; "a conscious policy" [syn: conscious]

Witting is a popular Germanic surname.