首页英语词典witwit的意思

wit

英 [wɪt] 美[wɪt]

英英释义同义词辨析词组搭配考试真题实用场景例句

近义词humor sense understanding intelligence

反义词

n. 智慧；才智；智力
n. (Wit)人名；(泰)威；(英、德、波)威特
v. 知道；即

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词态变化

复数: wits;

中文词源

wit 才思，智慧

来自PIE*weid,看，知道，词源同visit,wise。引申词义见多思广，智慧。

英英释意

1. a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter

2. mental ability;: "he's got plenty of brains but no common sense"

3. a witty amusing person who makes jokes

英文词源

wit: wit: Both the noun wit [OE] and the verb [OE] go back ultimately to the Indo-European base *woid-, *weid-, *wid-. This originally meant ‘see’, in which sense it has given English visible, vision, etc, but it developed metaphorically to ‘know’, and it is this sense that lies behind English wit. The noun to begin with denoted ‘mind, understanding, judgement, sense’ (a meaning preserved in expressions such as ‘keep one’s wits about one’ and ‘slow-witted’), and the modern sense ‘clever humorousness’ did not begin to emerge until the 16th century.

The verb has now virtually died out, except in the expression to wit. Witness is etymologically the state of ‘knowing’. Other English words that come from the same Indo-European base or its Germanic descendant include guide, history, idea, story, and twit.
=> guide, guise, history, idea, story, twit, vision, wise, witness
wit (n.): "mental capacity," Old English wit, witt, more commonly gewit "understanding, intellect, sense; knowledge, consciousness, conscience," from Proto-Germanic *wit- (cognates: Old Saxon wit, Old Norse vit, Danish vid, Swedish vett, Old Frisian wit, Old High German wizzi "knowledge, understanding, intelligence, mind," German Witz "wit, witticism, joke," Gothic unwiti "ignorance"), from PIE *weid- "to see," metaphorically "to know" (see vision). Related to Old English witan "to know" (source of wit (v.)). Meaning "ability to connect ideas and express them in an amusing way" is first recorded 1540s; that of "person of wit or learning" is from late 15c. For nuances of usage, see humor.
A witty saying proves nothing. [Voltaire, Diner du Comte de Boulainvilliers]

Wit ought to be five or six degrees above the ideas that form the intelligence of an audience. [Stendhal, "Life of Henry Brulard"]
Witjar was old slang (18c.) for "head, skull." Witling (1690s) was "a pretender to wit."
wit (v.): "to know" (archaic), Old English witan (past tense wast, past participle witen) "to know, beware of or conscious of, understand, observe, ascertain, learn," from Proto-Germanic *witan "to have seen," hence "to know" (cognates: Old Saxon witan, Old Norse vita, Old Frisian wita, Middle Dutch, Dutch weten, Old High German wizzan, German wissen, Gothic witan "to know"), from PIE *weid- (see wit (n.)). The phrase to wit, almost the only surviving use of the verb, is first recorded 1570s, from earlier that is to wit (mid-14c.), probably a loan-translation of Anglo-French cestasavoir, used to render Latin videlicet (see viz.).

同义词辨析

mind, intellect, intelligence, brains, wit, wisdom

这些名词均有"智力，智慧"之意。

mind：使用广泛，无褒贬之意。强调诸如认识、记忆、思考、决定等的智慧功能。

intellect：侧重不受感情或意志左右的冷静思考或领悟能力。

intelligence：指处理或对付问题或情况的特殊才智；也指运用、展开智慧的能力。

brain(多用复数brains)强调理解能力和独立的或者首创性的思维能力。

wit：指先天的才能、智力、意识等，隐含小聪明意味。

wisdom：较文雅，也可指明智的言行。

考试真题

It's full of wit and humour.

Facebook, therefore, is a self-enhancer's paradise,where people can share only the most flattering photos, the cream of their wit, style, beauty, intellect and lifestyles.

词组搭配

be at one's wits' end

be overwhelmed with difficulties and at a loss as to what to do next

茫然不知所措；智穷计尽

be frightened (或 scared) out of one's wits

be extremely frightened; be immobilized by fear

吓得魂不附体

gather (或 collect) one's wits

allow oneself to think calmly and clearly in a demanding situation

镇定下来

have (或 keep) one's wits about one

be constantly alert and vigilant

保持机警；保持头脑冷静

live by one's wits

earn money by clever and sometimes dishonest means, having no regular employment

靠耍花招骗人过日子

pit one's wits against

compete with (someone or something)

与（某人或物）竞争

at (one's) wits' end

At the limit of one's mental resources; utterly at a loss.

智穷计尽；全然不知所措

have (one's) wits about (one) 或 keep (one's) wits about (one)

To remain alert or calm, especially in a crisis.

警觉：保持头脑警觉或镇静，尤指在危机时刻

to wit

That is to say; namely.

也就是说；就是

实用场景例句

to have a quick/sharp/dry/ready wit: 才思敏捷；敏锐机智；假装正经的诙谐；头脑机敏

a woman of wit and intelligence: 才思敏捷、聪颖的女子

a book full of the wit and wisdom of his 30 years in politics: 一本有关他30年政治生涯中才思与智慧的书

a well-known wit and raconteur: 一位闻名遐迩、妙语连珠的故事大王

He needed all his wits to find his way out.: 他需要绞尽脑汁找到出路。

The game was a long battle of wits .: 这场游戏是长时间的斗智。

Kate paused and gathered her wits .: 凯特停下来恢复一下理智。

a chance to pit your wits against (= compete with, using your intelligence) our quiz champion: 利用你的智慧同我们的知识竞赛冠军进行较量的机会

a quick-witted group of students: 一群头脑聪明的学生

At least you had the wit to ask for help.: 你起码还能意识到要求救。

It should not be beyond the wit of man to resolve this dispute.: 解决这一纠纷应当是人力所能及的事。

Pilot error, to wit failure to follow procedures, was the cause of the accident.: 飞行员的失误，即没有遵守操作程序，是事故的原因。

Boulding was known for his biting wit...: 博尔丁爱说尖酸的俏皮话是出了名的。

They love her practical attitude to life, her zest and wit.: 他们喜欢她务实的人生态度、她的热情和幽默。

Holmes was gregarious, a great wit, a man of wide interests.: 福尔摩斯爱交际,非常风趣，兴趣广泛。

The information is there and waiting to be accessed by anyone with the wit to use it.: 资料就摆在那儿，等着有头脑的人去利用。

She has used her wits to progress to the position she holds today.: 她凭借个人才智升到了今天的职位。

You scared us out of our wits. We heard you had an accident.: 你把我们吓坏了，我们听说你出事了。

...a huge bass drum which frightened the wits out of the organist each time it was banged.: 每次敲起来都让风琴师惊慌失措的巨型低音鼓

Travellers need to keep their wits about them.: 旅行者需要随机应变。

We row a lot and we never have time on our own. I'm at my wit's end.: 我们经常争吵，从无在一起的时间，我真是没有办法了。

He has to pit his wits against an adversary who is cool, clever and cunning.: 他不得不与一个冷静、聪明而又狡猾的对手斗智。

He'd like 'happiness' to be given a new and more scientifically descriptive label, to wit 'Major affective disorder, pleasant type'.: 他想给“幸福”一个更为科学的新称谓，准确地说即“愉悦型重度情感障碍”。

Better a witty fool man than a foolish wit.: 宁做聪明的傻子,不做愚蠢的聪明人.

Boys gravitate towards girls at that age.: 男孩们被大门口的女孩们吸引了.

wit