Whit - wit
From Hull AWE
Whit and wit form one of the sets of homophones listed by the then Poet Laureate Robert Bridges.
(For more, see Bridges homophones). AWE has a category listing our articles on each of these.
- Whit in ordinary English is a faintly archaic and mannered expression, mostly used in negative formations, to mean 'a very small amount', 'a bit'. "Not a whit" means 'with no appreciable effect, or difference', 'by no means', 'not a bit of it'.
- There is also a season in the Christian year known as Whit. For more, see Whit Sunday.
- Wit may be a noun or a verb. For information about its meanings, see Wit (meaning).
