[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/wist/)

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# wist

verb, past tense of wit

«wist» in the English dictionary: Early Modern English — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Early Modern English

### Meaning

Knew; had known. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/W/wist/#m1)

### Then and now

No longer used; today we say "knew". The "wist-ful" in the first sentence is a different word meaning longing or sad.

### Examples

- The wist-ful look in the poor man's face spoke plainer than words. (Fifty Famous Stories Retold) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/W/wist/#x1)
- ‘Little green toad whose leg doth twist, Go to the corner of which you wist, And bring to me the large old kist.’ (The Yellow Fairy Book) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/W/wist/#x2)

### Note

Today: knew.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «wist» in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/W/wist/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«wist» in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/wist.html) on Mova free.