▪ I. whit, n.1 Now arch. or literary.
(hwɪt)
Also 5–6 whyt, 6 whytt(e, wyt, Sc. quhit, quheet, quheit, vheet, 6–7 whitte, 6–8 whitt, 7–8 wit.
[Early mod.E. whyt, wyt, whit(t, app. an alteration of wight, wite, in any wight, no wight, little wight (see wight n.).]
1. A very small, or the least, portion or amount; a particle, jot, ‘bit’: a. without negative: esp. in every whit = the whole.
| c 1520 Skelton Magnyf. 1271 What he sayth and she sayth to lay good ere, And tell to his sufferayne euery whyt. 1539 Bible (Great) 1 Sam. iii. 18 Samuel tolde him euery whitt, & hidd nothing from him. c 1590 J. Stewart Poems (S.T.S.) II. 198 His maist prencelie Spreit,..vill appaise thy hoip in euerie quheit. 1665 Bunyan Holy Citie (1669) 182 Thou must enter in by every whit of Christ, or thou shalt enter in by never a whit of him. |
b. with negative expressed or implied: esp. in never a whit, not a whit, no whit = none at all.
| 1480 Robt. Devyll (1798) 10 The devyll have the whyt that he was soreye therfore. 1528 Roy Rede me (Arb.) 65, I trowe thou arte a syngynge man?.. The devil of the whit that I can. 1530, etc. [see no whit]. 1533 J. Heywood Johan, Tyb, & Syr Jhan A j, Thynke ye that she wyll amende yet? Nay by our lady the deuyll spede whyt. 1538 Starkey England i. iii. (1878) 92 Some haue to much, some to lytyl, and some neuer a wyt. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 713 It can shew scarce any whit of the ancient state it had. 1631 [Mabbe] Celestina xviii. 183 The divell awhit shall I be able to tell them. 1635 R. N. tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. iii. 284 Having sacked the Towne, they found not a whit of gold. 1678 R. Barclay Apol. Quakers iv. §2. 97 We do not ascribe any whit of Adam's Guilt to Men. 1830 Tennyson Owl ii. ii, Not a whit of thy tuwhoo, Thee to woo to thy tuwhit. 1870 Freeman Norm. Conq. (ed. 2) I. App. B. 545 It was not their policy to destroy or to change one whit more than was absolutely necessary. 1874 C. E. Norton Let. to Ruskin 10 Jan., No whit of faith in the good as good..has vanished from my soul. |
2. Most commonly in phrases used adverbially: a. without negative: a whit = to a very small extent, a very little; any whit, one whit = to the least amount, in the least degree, at all; every († each) whit = to the full amount, completely, altogether, thoroughly, quite (in later use almost always with as in comparisons of equality).
| 1526 Tindale John vii. 23 Disdayne ye at me: because I made a man every whit whoale on the saboth daye? Ibid. xiii. 10 He that is wesshed nedeth not but to wesshe his fete, but is clene every whit. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 411 Elynour made the pryce For good ale eche whyt. 1555 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) III. App. l. 161 Every Child..that can any whit speak. 1568 Hist. Jacob & Esau ii. iv, He eate it vp euery whit. 1574 Whitgift Def. Aunsw. ii. 104 Master Zuinglius (who woulde haue beene lothe one whit to strengthen the Papistes). 1618 in Foster Engl. Factories Ind. (1906) 49 Yf they be suffred but a whit longer, they will make claime to the whole Indies. 1672 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal ii. ii, I have written..a whole cart⁓load of things, every whit as good as this. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 384 Every whit as wild and extravagant. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxiii, Were my situation one whit less perilous. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. III. xii. 231 The narrative of this campaign..is every whit as puzzling. 1903 Zangwill Grey Wig, etc. vi. 110 Mrs. Drabdump felt a whit uneasy. |
b. with negative expressed or implied: never, not (etc.) a whit († awhit, a-whit), any whit, one whit; also no whit = not in the least, not at all.
| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxliv. 219 b/2 He loued hym nat one whyt the better. 1558 Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. (1568) 7 Leaue the water vpon the fournesse, without mouing it any whit. 1564 Brief Exam. ****iij, You helpe your selues neuer awhyt. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 203 Be na quhit of thame agast. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. ii. §6 Nor is the freedom of the wil of God any whit abated..by meanes of this. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 408 Falst. Art not thou horrible afraid?..Prin. Not a whit. 1607 Puritan i. i. 33 Shee cryed nere a whitte at all. 1634 Milton Comus 774 Natures full blessings would be well dispenc't.., And she no whit encomber'd with her store. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 871 It never troubles you awhit! 1773 Cook's Voy. ii. ix. in Hawkesworth III, Not a whit behind them in cheerfulness and vivacity. 1775 Sheridan Rivals iv. iii, You don't seem one whit the happier at this. 1809–10 Coleridge Friend (1865) 175 He..is not a whit the better Christian for being a bad patriot. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets v. 135 Grief will profit us no whit. 1893 M. Pemberton Iron Pirate ii, The novelty..did not surprise me one whit. |
† 3. As a term of contempt or abuse. Obs. rare—1.
| 1610 B. Jonson Alch. iv. vii, Then you are an Otter, and a Shad, a Whit, A very Tim. |
▪ II. whit, int. (adv.), n.2, v.
[Imitative. Cf. tuwhit.]
A word expressing a shrill abrupt sound, as of a bird's chirp, a bullet striking something hard, etc.; also as v. (Also repeated.)
| 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle viii, The musket-balls were..plumping into the timber whit-whit. 1854 R. S. Surtees Handley Cr. v, ‘Whit’ cries the coachman to his horses, off they go. 1859 Tennyson Grandmother x, And whit, whit, whit, in the bush beside me chirrupt the nightingale. 1888 Kipling Ball. Boh Da Thone 134 Where the whit of the bullet, the wounded man's scream Are mixed. 1900 Longman's Mag. Jan. 230 The whit-whit of the scraping knives. 1902 Words of Eye-witness 97 A storm of bullets..whit viciously upon the woodwork. |
▪ III. whit
obs. f. quite, white, wight, with.