different between wite vs yite

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?t, IPA^(key): /wa?t/
• Rhymes: -a?t
• Homophone: wight; (in accents with the wine-whine merger) white

Etymology 1

From Middle English w?ten (“to accuse, reproach, punish, suspect”), Old English w?tan (“to look, behold, see, guard, keep, impute or ascribe to, accuse, reproach, blame”), from Proto-West Germanic *w?tan, from Proto-Germanic *w?tan?. Connected to Old English w?te, see below.

Alternative forms

• wyte

Verb

wite (third-person singular simple present wites, present participle witing, simple past and past participle wited)

1. (chiefly Scotland) To blame; regard as guilty, fault, accuse
2. To reproach, censure, mulct
3. To observe, keep, guard, preserve, protect

Etymology 2

From Middle English wite (“guilt, blameworthiness, blame, wrongdoing, misdeed, offense, punishment, retribution, fine, bote, customary rent”), from Old English w?te (“punishment, pain, torment”), from Proto-West Germanic *w?t?, from Proto-Germanic *w?tij?, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, find, behold”).

Noun

wite (plural wites)

1. (obsolete outside Scotland) Blame, responsibility, guilt.
2. Punishment, penalty, fine, bote, mulct.

Etymology 3

From Middle English witen, from Old English w?tan (“to see, accuse, go, depart”), from Proto-West Germanic *w?tan, from Proto-Germanic *w?tan?, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, find, behold”).

Verb

wite (third-person singular simple present wites, present participle witing, simple past and past participle wited)

1. (obsolete or poetic) To go, go away, depart, perish, vanish

References

• Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *w?t?, from Proto-Germanic *w?tij? (“punishment”). Cognate with Old Frisian w?te, Old Saxon w?ti, Dutch wijte, Old High German w?zi, Old Norse víti.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?wi?.te/

Noun

w?te n (nominative plural w?tu)

1. punishment, torment
2. penalty, fine

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

• Latin: w?ta

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?v?i.t?/

Participle

wite

1. inflection of wity:
   1. neuter nominative/accusative/vocative singular
   2. nonvirile nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Scots

Verb

wite

1. Alternative form of wyte

West Frisian

Verb

wite

1. Alternative form of witte

Inflection

English

Alternative forms

• yoit

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

yite (plural yites)

1. (Britain, dialect) The yellowhammer.

Anagrams

• -iety, yeti