inwit

Etymology

From Middle English inwit (“mind, reason, intellect, understanding; soul, spirit; feeling; the collection of inner faculties; one of five inner faculties; one of the outer bodily senses.; inward awareness of right or wrong, conscience”), from Old English *inwitt, inġewitnes (“consciousness, conscience, knowledge, knowing”), equivalent to in- +‎ wit. Compare Scots inwit, Saterland Frisian Gewieten, West Frisian gewisse, Dutch geweten, German Low German Geweten, German Gewissen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪnwɪt/

Noun

inwit (uncountable)

1. (archaic) Inward knowledge or understanding.
   • "Will it make you happy?" / "Probably not," Kai said irritably. "Inwit tells me that you're trouble from the beginning." — Midori Snyder, Sadar's Keep, A Tom Doherty Associates Book, New York, 1991
2. (obsolete) Conscience; inward sense of morality.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Speaking to me. They wash and tub and scrub. Agenbite of inwit. Conscience. — James Joyce, Ulysses, 1922
   • "I knew that was so. Every time that inwit twanged -- I have conscience like you, reverend sir!" -- — Marcia Davenport, Constant Image, 1960
   • (Can we date this quote?) Inwit, a term for conscience, suggests the inner senses and interior sensibility, which accords nicely with the current state of the senses under the regime of electric technologies. — Marshall McLuhan, The Agenbite of Outwit, 1998
   • "What's the matter? Can't a ballplayer - an ex-ballplayer - have a literate vocabulary?" / "Sure. But 'qualm?' " / "How about 'the aginbite of inwit' then?" — Paul Di Filippo, Seeing is believing, Fantasy & Science Fiction: Apr 2003:. Vol. 104, Iss. 4; pg. 131

Alternative forms

• ynwitt, inwitt, inwytt, ynwytt, inwyt, inwytte, ine-wyt

Etymology

From Old English *inwitt; equivalent to in- +‎ witt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈinwit/, /ənˈwit/

Noun

inwit (uncountable)

1. reasoning, mental acuity, brainpower.
2. attitude, impression, essence
3. A mental process or power
4. morality, moral code; judgement
5. (rare) plan, intent, purpose.