▪ I. wot, v. arch.
(wɒt)
Forms: (see below).
[var. of wit v.1, due to the carrying over of the preterite-present stem wǭt (earlier and northern wāt) into other parts of the verb. The substitution occurs first in the 2nd pers. sing. (wāt, wǭt for wāst, wǭst) and the plur. (for wĭten) of the present tense, and appears in northern texts from the end of the 13th century. In the 14th cent. the new forms wotest and woteth (wotis) appear. The infin. woten occurs early in the 15th cent., and wotte, wote, wot in the 16th, together with the pres. pple. wotting. The pa. tense wotted is an archaism of the 19th cent.]
trans. and intr. To know. Freq. const. with of. (See wit v.1)
1. 2nd sing. pres. ind. αnorth. and Sc. 4–5 wat, 4–6 wate, (4 whate, quat, vat), 6 wait, (vait). β4 whote, 5 woot, wot.
| α a 1300 Cursor M. 766 Wat þou [Gött. quat. Fairf. wate] quarfor? 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2666 Ne þou whate never in what stede þou sal dyghe. 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 241 Thou vat nocht quha is thi frend. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. cxxix, Lo, wate thou quhy? c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. v. xiii. 5247 (Cott.) Quhar was God, wat þou oucht, Befor þat hewyn and erde was wroucht? 1549 Compl. Scot. xv. 126 Thou vait that ane man vil haue childir of deferent conditionis. c 1550 Rolland Crt. Venus i. 404 Thryis als mekle scho reuis, That thou not wait. a 1568 in Bannatyne MS. (Hunter, Club) 133 Thow wate nocht quhen that it will licht. |
| β a 1352 Minot Poems (ed. Hall) xi. 4 Þou whote wham I mene. c 1400 Non-Cycle Myst. Plays iii. 40 Now wot þou wele of all oure wo. a 1425 Cursor M. 3231 (Trin.) Wende in hye vnto mesopothanye, þere þou woot oure frendes wone. |
2. pres. ind. pl. αnorth. and Sc. 4–6, 8 wat (4 quat, 5 vat), wate (5 quate), 5–6 wait (6 vait, waite). β4–6 wote (4 woteþ, wotin, 5 north. woteys), 5 woote, 5–6 woot, wott(e, 5–9 wot (5 whot).
| α a 1300 Cursor M. 4729 Wel wat [Fairf. wate] yee Mi stiward ioseph al fedes me. Ibid. 14571 We wat [Gött. quat] mast quat er þai þar. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1432 Ofte chaunges þe tymes here, als men wele wate. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints vi. (Thomas) 172 Of pollucione of flesche grovis, as ve vat, giltines. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. v. xi. 2931 (Cott.) As ȝhe wate and has herde tel. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 151 Changeing of men that wate the kingis secretis..may do grete scathe. 1513 Douglas æneis x. Prol. 66 Lik as the sawle of man is ane, we wait, Havand thre poweris distinct and separate. 1549 Compl. Scot. v. 32 Thai vait nocht quhat thing is the varld. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 58 Quhilkes to cal scheip or gait..we knawe nocht, nor wat we weil. 1720 Ramsay Prosp. Plenty 171 Right wiel they wate That truth and honesty hauds lang the gate. 1724 ― Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 66 Now wat ye wha I met yestreen? |
| β 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 39 Þys clerkys..wote þat ys to wetyn. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 51 We woot wel þat þe kepynge of largesse ys right herd. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 2432 They..whot nat wher to saue or lese. c 1460 Play Sacr. 334 Ye wott what I haue sayd. 1521 Fisher Serm. Wks. (1876) 315 We woot that that people of the Iewes was a shadow of the chrysten people. c 1530 Latimer in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. App. xliii. 119 Ye call the Scripture the new Lerninge; which..is eldre than any lerninge, that ye wote to be the old. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 90 Then you may come and see the picture..that you wot of. 16.. Middleton etc. Old Law iii. i, I have found out the true age..of the party you wot on. 1657 Trapp Comm. Ps. xxxii. 5 Wot you what?..he hath confessed himself as guilty..as his man. 1753–4 Richardson Grandison (1810) IV. xvii. 141 Wot ye not the indelicacy of an early present, which you are not obliged to make? 1841 James Brigand iv, There are more dangers around than you wot of. 1874 Motley John of Barneveld xi. II. 30 ‘Don't forget to caress the old gentleman you wot of,’ said the Advocate frequently. |
3. a. 2nd sing. pres. ind. 5 wotest, -ist, -ys(t, 6– wottest, 6 wottst, wotste, Sc. wattis.
| 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. ii. 74 Wottest thou not wel..that every shepherde ought..to seke his sperkelande sheep. c 1400 Beryn 45, I myȝte nat lyve els, þowe wotist. 1448–9 J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes 360 Wotys thow qwat me thynkyth best? 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. xxiv. 72 This knyght is a man of more worship than thou wotest of. 1549 Coverdale Erasm. Par. Rom. Prol. {cross} iv b, Thou woteste not what thou teachest. 1579 Hake Newes out of Powles (1872) A vij, For well thou wotste, if thyrsty were my minde..Then would I [etc.]. a 1585 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 426 Thou wattis not quhat thou wald. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxvi, Wottest thou that Lucas de Beaumanoir..is now himself at Templestowe? 1844 Mrs. Browning Crowned & Buried xv, I would have The dead whereof thou wottest, from that grave. |
b. 3rd sing. pres. ind. 4 wotis, 6 woteth, -ith, 6 wottyth, 6– wotteth, 9 wots; Sc. 6 wattis, 7 waits, 9 wats.
| 13.. Cursor M. 10506 (Gött.) He wotis þis haue i ȝernid ay. 1523 Skelton Garl. Laurel 1431 Lytill wotith the goslyng what the gose thynkith. Ibid. 1438 Wele wotith the cat whos berde she likkith. 1531 Dial. Laws Eng. ii. liii. 44 It is therefore no synne to say he wottyth not where he is. 1535 Coverdale Baruch iii. 32 He that woteth all thynges, knoweth her. 1577 St. Aug. Man. (Longman) 27 O kyngdome without ende;..where the day..woteth not what time meaneth. 1602 J. Davies (Heref.) Mirum in Modum (Grosart) 6/1 Through which she wots what works hir woe or weale. 1633 Sir A. Johnston (Wariston) Diary (S.H.S.) 81 Quho waits bot the Lord wil deal bountifully with his servant once this weak as he did [etc.]. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xi, Let her know that he she wots of remained here..expecting to see her. 1879 E. Arnold Lt. Asia viii. 22 The ant wots of its ways, The white doves know them well. |
4. inf. 5 woten, 7 wote; 6 wotte, 6– wot. Also subj. 6 wote; imp. 6 wot, wat, 7 wote.
| 1414 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 59/1 Which is gret doel to alle the Kynges trewe lieges..to woten of swiche meschiefs done and used withinne the Rewme. 1509 Fisher Ps. cxlii. Wks. (1876) 253 No meruayle it is yf than the sely soule..wote not what to saye. 1530 Palsgr. Ep. Ded. p. iij, So that we myght wotte for the kepynge of trewe congruite in that tonge..how [etc.]. 1575 A. Fleming Virg. Bucol. iii. 8 If so much thou know not, then, well wot, the goate is mine. 1601 Holland Pliny xxx. iii. II. 406 Wote well, that ordinarily the water thereof is not good. 1605 Camden Rem., Lang. 19 Conscience, they called Inwit, as that which they did inwardly wit and wote, that is, know certainely. 1813 Scott Trierm. i. xi, The..Monarch full little did wot That she smiled, in his absence, on brave Lancelot. 1875 Morris æneids iii. 379 The other things the Parcæ still ban Helenus to wot. |
5. pres. pple. (and vbl. n.). 6 wottyng, 6– wotting.
| 1523 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 42 People browght to extreme distresse and not wottyng how to lyue. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 120 Wottyng and weenyng, were those two thingis one. 1574 A. L. Calvin's Four Serm. ii, He stammered, not wotting what to say. 1624 Gataker Transubst. 60 Well wotting that there was no such thing. 1817 Scott Harold iii. iii, Hardly wotting why, He doff'd his helmet's gloomy pride. 1887 Morris Odyss. xiv. 451 And neither the Queen nor Laertes the Elder were wotting of this. |
6. pa. tense. 9– wotted.
| 1818 Scott Rob Roy viii, That honest gentleman's terror communicated itself to him, though he wotted not why. 1853 Huxley in Life & Lett. (1900) I. 114 Having rushed into more responsibility than I wotted of. 1901 ‘Linesman’ Words by Eyewitness (1902) 217 He will see many things he wotted nothing of. |
▪ II. wot
(wɒt)
non-standard written form of what pron., a.1, etc.
| 1829 [see slap-up a. b]. 1865 [see water n. 6 f]. 1898 [see chivvy n.]. 1925 [see garden n. 1 f]. 1949 E. Pound Pisan Cantos lxxvii. 50 I'll tell you wot izza comin'. 1972 ‘H. Carmichael’ Naked to Grave v. 60 He's going to have a tough job convincing the police he wasn't the one wot done it. |
b. In phr. wot, no ―?: orig. (in the war of 1939–45) a catchphrase protesting against shortages, written as the caption accompanying a Chad (see Chad); now also in extended humorous use.
| 1945 Sunday Express 2 Dec. 2/3 Chad is the Watcher... He peers over walls and asks, ‘Wot, no{ddd}?’ 1946, 1950 [see Chad, chad]. 1958 J. Townsend Young Devils ii. 16 A rusty drawing-pin supported an old Teachers' Union notice. It had scribbled across it ‘Wot, no money?’ 1979 K. Conlon Move in Game i. v. 64 Joanna sent a postcard which said, ‘Wot no tulle and confetti?’ |
▪ III. wot(e
obs. forms of oat.