Etymograph

English

weet

Weet comes from Middle English witen ‘to know’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weyd-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-1‘see, know’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*witaną1‘to know’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*witan2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150witan1‘to know, be aware of’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500witen3‘to know’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500weten3
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1596weet3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English witen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English witan
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English weet
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto VI: “But Glauce, ſeeing all that chaunced there, / VVell…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-Wiktionary, Middle English witen‘see, know’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*witanąWiktionary, Middle English witen‘to know’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*witanWiktionary, Old English witanreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150witanWiktionary, Middle English witen‘to know, be aware of’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500witenWiktionary, English weet‘to know’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wetenWiktionary, English weet
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1596weetWiktionary, English weet. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto VI: “But Glauce, ſeeing all that chaunced there, / VVell…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘see, know’

story, video, guy, idea, provide, evidence, review, visit, advice, interview, guide, vision, witness, wise, historic, wisdom, visa, advise, invisible, evident, idol, wizard, historian, visibility, vista, witty, revise, guise, prudent, steroid, tabloid, envious, jurisprudence, prudence, revue, improvise, druid, vide, avis, purview, 117 more

through Old English witan ‘to know, be aware of’

wot, twit, 6 more

through Middle English witen ‘to know’

wit, 1 more

through Middle English weten

wet

Today it means

verb To know.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “weet”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle English witen, Old English witan. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyd- / weet

Shirt and support for this word