different between whit vs mite

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English wi?t, wight, from Old English wiht (“wight, person, creature, being, whit, thing, something, anything”), from Proto-Germanic *wiht? (“thing, creature”) or *wihtiz (“essence, object”), from Proto-Indo-European *wekti- (“cause, sake, thing”), from *wek?- (“to say, tell”). Cognate with Old High German wiht (“creature, thing”), Dutch wicht, German Wicht. Doublet of wight.

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?t, hw?t, IPA^(key): /w?t/, /??t/
• Rhymes: -?t
• Homophone: wit (in accents with the wine-whine merger)

Noun

whit (plural whits)

1. The smallest part or particle imaginable; an iota.
   • 1602: William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act V scene 2

     Not a whit.

   • 1917, Incident by Countee Cullen

     Now I was eight and very small, / And he was no whit bigger / And so I smiled, but he poked out / His tongue, and called me, 'Nigger.'

Synonyms

• (smallest part imaginable): bit, iota, jot, scrap
• See also Thesaurus:modicum.

Translations

Etymology 2

Preposition

whit

1. Pronunciation spelling of with.

Anagrams

• with, with-

Middle English

Alternative forms

• hwit, white, whyte, whitt, whytt, whyt, whi?t, qwyght, ?wijt, wyghte, whiyt, whijt

Etymology

Old English hw?t, from Proto-Germanic *hw?taz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?i?t/

Adjective

whit (plural and weak singular white, comparative whitter, superlative whittest)

1. white, pale, light (in color)
2. (referring to people) wearing white clothes
3. (referring to people) having white skin
4. attractive, fair, beautiful
5. bright, shining, brilliant
6. (referring to plants) having white flowers
7. (heraldry) silver, argent (tincture)
8. (alchemy) Inducing the transmutation of a substance into silver
9. (medicine) Unusually light; bearing the pallor of death

Related terms

• snow whit

Descendants

• English: white (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: quhite, fyte, fite, whyte, white
• Yola: whit

References

• “wh?t, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.

Noun

whit

1. white (colour)
2. white pigment
3. The white of an egg
4. The white of an eye
5. white fabric
6. white wine
7. dairy products
8. Other objects notable for being white

Descendants

• English: white
• Scots: quhite, fyte, fite, whyte, white

References

• “wh?t, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-30.

See also

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [??t]

Pronoun

whit

1. Alternative form of what

References

• “what, pron., adv., adj., conj., interj..” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

English

Etymology

From Middle English mite, from Old English m?te (“mite, tiny insect”), from Proto-Germanic *m?t? (“biting insect”, literally “cutter”), from *maitan? (“to cut”), from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“small”) or *mai- (“to cut”). Akin to Old High German m?za (“mite”), Middle Dutch m?te (“moth, mite”), Dutch mijt (“moth, mite”), Danish mide (“mite”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: m?t, IPA^(key): /ma?t/
• Rhymes: -a?t
• Homophone: might

Noun

mite (plural mites)

1. Any of many minute arachnids which, along with the ticks, comprise subclass Acarina (aka Acari).
2. A small coin formerly circulated in England, rated at about a third of a farthing.
   • 1803, William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

     One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands

     Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;

3. A lepton, a small coin used in Palestine in the time of Christ.
4. A small weight; one twentieth of a grain.
5. (sometimes used adverbially) Anything very small; a minute object; a very little quantity or particle
6. (colloquial, often used affectionately) A small or naughty person, or one you take pity on; rascal
   • 2014, Lorraine F Elli, The Little Town Mouse

     “Tom told me that, but twasn't your fault, the little mite just couldn't wait to be born that's all.” A small smile played on Leah's lips

Synonyms

• (small amount): see also Thesaurus:modicum.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

mite

1. Eye dialect spelling of might.

Anagrams

• -time, METI, emit, it me, item, time

Au

Noun

mite

1. woman

References

• transnewguinea.org, citing D. C. Laycock, Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea (1968), Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin mythos

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /?mi.t?/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /?mi.te/

Noun

mite m (plural mites)

1. myth

Related terms

• mític
• mitologia

Further reading

• “mite” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French mitte (“kind of insect which gnaws on cloth or cheese”), from Middle Dutch m?te (“moth, mite”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *m?t? (“biting insect”, literally “cutter”), from *maitan? (“to cut”).

Akin to Old English m?te (“mite, tiny insect”), Old High German m?za (“mite”), Danish mide (“mite”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mit/

Noun

mite f (plural mites)

1. mite (arachnid)
2. moth, particularly one whose larva destroys something stored by humans

Derived terms

• antimite

Related terms

• chenille f
• papillon m
• teigne f (“clothes moth”)
• pyrale f (“meal moth”)

Verb

mite

1. first-person singular present indicative of miter
2. third-person singular present indicative of miter
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of miter
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of miter
5. second-person singular imperative of miter

Further reading

• “mite” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• émit, émît

Italian

Etymology

From Latin m?tis (“mild, mature”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?mi.te/

Adjective

mite (plural miti)

1. mild
2. moderate (price)
3. balmy, mild (climate)

4. meek (animal)

Anagrams

• temi

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?mi?.te/, [?mi?t??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?mi.te/, [?mi?t??]

Adjective

m?te

1. nominative neuter singular of m?tis
2. accusative neuter singular of m?tis
3. vocative neuter singular of m?tis

References

• mite in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• mite in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers

Norman

Etymology

From Old French mitte (“kind of insect which gnaws on cloth or cheese”), from Middle Dutch m?te (“moth, mite”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *m?t? (“biting insect”, literally “cutter”).

Noun

mite f (plural mites)

1. (Jersey) mite

Volapük

Noun

mite

1. dative singular of mit