† inwitn.
Obsolete.
1. Conscience; inward sense of right and wrong. Also clean inwit = ‘a clean heart’.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > [noun] > moral sense > conscience
hearta1225
conscience?c1225
inwitc1230
pursec1275
the bird in one's (also the) bosom1548
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 157 Ure ahne conscience. þet is ure inwit.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 6 Of schir heorte & cleane inwit [L. conscientia bona] & treowe bileaue.
1340 R. Rolle Pricke of Conscience 5428 Conscience þat es called Ynwitt, And þair awen syns..there ogayne the synful sal be.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 1 Þis boc is dan Michelis of Northgate, y-write an englis of his oȝene hand þet hatte: Ayenbyte of inwyt.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 202 Þe uerste stape is clene inwyt, þet is þe rote of þise trawe, uor wyþ-oute clene inwyt, no chastete ne lykeþ to god.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. vii. 421 Hus wif and hys inwit edwited hym of hus synne.
1605 W. Camden Remaines i. 19 The certaine and inward knowledge of that which is in our minde, be it good or bad, which in the Latine word we call Conscience, they called Inwit.]
2.
a. Reason, intellect, understanding; wisdom.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intellect > [noun]
i-witc888
anyitOE
witOE
thoughtOE
inwitc1305
intention1340
mindc1384
understandingc1384
intentc1386
intelligencec1390
intellecta1398
minda1398
understanda1400
intellectionc1449
ingeny1477
intellectivec1484
mind-sight1587
intellectual1598
notion1604
intelligency1663
mental1676
nous1678
grasp1683
thinker1835
Geist1871
noesis1881
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > wisdom, sagacity > [noun]
righteousnesseOE
snoterc950
witnessc950
wisdomOE
insightc1175
witc1175
smeighnessc1200
sleighta1300
witternessa1300
inwitc1305
wittiheadc1315
wisenessc1320
witterheda1325
wisehede1340
slyness1357
sapience1377
wisdomhood138.
prudencea1382
sapienta1400
sentencec1400
advice?a1439
sophyc1440
profunditya1500
wittiness1543
Minerva1601
depth1605
Sophia1649
visionariness1817
c1305 St. Katherine 28 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 90 Biþench þe bet and turn þi þoȝt to som wysdom ic rede And whan þyn owene inwit þe saiþ þat no whar nis such a dede Almiȝtie god þu him holde þat such wonder can make.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 16590 Hit was er a wel good þrowe, As mannes inwyt may þat wel knowe.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 65 Anaxagorus seide þat Inwitte of god is makere of alle þinges.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 64 Suche be so woo lyke as they had loste theyr Inwytte.
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xi. 173 Yet is there an Inwit in it which the Beast knoweth not of, which Inwit concocteth, disgesteth, and distributeth that which the beast hath eaten.
b. plural. (See quot. c1380.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intellect > [noun] > intellectual powers
five witsc1200
wits1362
inwitc1380
spiritsc1450
fifteen wits1606
intellectuals1615
intellects1649
furniture1788
plant1861
marbles1902
1362 W. Langland Piers Plowman A. x. 17 A wys kniht wiþ alle Sire Inwit he hette And haþ fyue feire sones.]
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 117 Þese ben also þy fyve inwyttys; Wyl, Resoun, Mynd, Ymaginacioun, and Thogth.
c1440 Gesta Romanorum (Harl.) i. viii. 18 Þe Iuge, scil. Reson, owith to come don, when conscience mevith him to ȝeve dome bitwix þe v. Inwittis.
3. (Rendering Latin animus.) Heart, soul, mind; cheer, courage.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > [noun]
elne888
bieldc890
daringc1374
coraiouste1382
inwit1382
courageousnessa1513
courage1540
couragie1556
valour1581
nerve1602
stoutheartednessa1683
noble-heartedness1836
lionheartedness1885
gut1893
gutsiness1893
bottle1958
the mind > mental capacity > spirituality > mind, soul, spirit, heart > [noun]
wombeOE
moodeOE
heartOE
inner manc1000
soulOE
ghostOE
sprite1340
inwit1382
consciencec1384
spiritc1384
minda1387
spirtc1415
esperite1477
inward man1526
pneuma1559
esprite1591
internala1594
interior1600
entelechy1603
inside1615
psyche1648
sprit1653
citta1853
undersoul1868
Geist1871
heart-mind1959
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Deut. xxi. 14 If afterward she sittith not in thin inwit [a1425 L.V. soule], thow shalt leeue hir free.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) 1 Sam. i. 10 Whanne Anna was in bitter inwit [a1425 L.V. soule], she preiede the Lord, wepynge largeli.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Deeds xxvii. 22 I counceile ȝou for to be of good ynwitt, or herte [a1425 L.V. coumfort].
4. Now used as a conscious archaism in senses 1, 2 by some modern writers.In Joyce's Ulysses adopted from Dan Michel's title Ayenbite of Inwyt (1340); so also in quots. 1967, 1968. Cf. agenbite n.
ΚΠ
1894 F. S. Ellis Reynard the Fox 213 By what is truly but a bubble, Letting it master his inwit.
1922 R. Bridges Coll. Ess. (1928) iii. 68 If..such good old English words as inwit and wanhope should be rehabilitated (and they have been pushing up their heads for thirty years), we should gain a great deal.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses i. i. [Telemachus] 16 They wash and tub and scrub. Agenbite of inwit. Conscience.
1955 E. Pound Classic Anthol. iii. 150 Designing in his heart felicity From inwit to his act moved ever so straight He got in sovereignty the whole Quadrate.
1955 E. Pound Classic Anthol. iii. 174 There is no light in your conscience And your acts shed, therefore, no light In your inwit.
1967 Punch 12 July 72/1 There's this dedicated, totally frenetic fumble under the skin of the times' underbelly..for the agenbite of inwit.
1968 Listener 28 Mar. 411/3 Very probably Bond fans will be able to turn a blind eye to the bites and agenbites of new-Bond's inwit.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.c1230