wishful 
2. Desirable; inviting. [Poetical.] 
Jfany a shady hill, 
And many an echoing valley, many a field 
Pleaaant and wvfhfid, did his passage yield 
Their safe traascension. 
Chapman, tr. of Homer's Hymn to Hermes, 1. 185. 
Having so wisfi/ul an Opportunity, ... I could not but 
send you this Friendly Salute. Howell, Letters, I. vt 4. 
wishfully (wish'ful-i), (uJv, 1. With desire; 
longingly; wistfully. 
And all did vnsh/nlly expect the silver- throned mom. 
Chapman, Iliad, viii. 497, 
He looked up tci)ihfully in my uncle Toby's face, then 
cast a look upon his boy — and that ligament, fine as it was, 
was never broken. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vi. 10. 
2. Desirably; according to one's wishes. 
Phce. I doubt now 
We shall not gain access unto your love, 
Or she to us. 
Fid, Most wishfully here she comes. 
Middleton, I'huenix, iii. 1. 
wishfCllliess (wish'ful-nes), n. The state of 
being wishful; longing. 
The natural infirmities of youth, 
Sadness and softness, hopefulness, wishfidness. 
Sir H. Taylor, Isaac Coninenus, iii. 1. 
wishing-bone (wish'ing-bon), n. Same as wish- 
hOHC. 
wishing-cap (wish'ing-kap), w. A cap by wear- 
ing which one obtains whatever one wishes. 
wi8hing-rod(wish'ing-rod), H. A rod the wield- 
ing of which obtains one's wishes, or confers 
unlimited power. 
wishlyt (wish'li), adv. [< wish + -ly'^. Cf. wist- 
ly.] Wistly. [Rare.] 
.lEacides . . . wi*hly did intend 
(Standing asterne his tall neckt ship) how deepe the skir- 
mish drew. Chapman, Iliad, xi. 
Devereux, that undaunted knight. 
Who stood astern his ship, and trishly eyed 
How deep the skirmish drew on either side. 
Mir. far Mags., p. 863. 
wishness (wish'ues), n. Melancholy yearning. 
[Rare.] 
sighing (I heard the love-lorn swain) 
Wishness ! oh, vnshness walketh here. 
Polwhele, Wishful Swain of Devon. 
wishtonwish (wish'ton-wish), V. [Said to be 
Araer. Ind., and imitative.] The prairie-dog 
of North America, Cynomys ludoHcianus. See 
cut under prairie-dog^ and compare second cut 
under owl. 
Tlie Wishtonwish of the Indians, prairie dogs of some 
travellers, . . . reside on the prairies of Louisiana in 
towns or villages, having an evident police established 
in their comnmnities. ... As you approach their towns, 
you are saluted on all sides V)y the cry of Wishtonwish, 
from which they derive their name with the Indians, 
uttered in a shrill and piercing manner. 
Z. M. Pike, Voyage to Sources of the Arkansaw, etc. 
[(1811)), p. 156. 
[Misunderstood by Cooper as a name for the whippoor- 
wlll, it was BO used by him in hia novel "The Wept of 
Wish-ton- Wish," and elsewhere. 
"He speaks of the icish-ton-irish," said the scout. 
" Well, since you like his whistle, it shall be your signal. 
Remember, then, when you hear the whip-poor-will's call 
tliree times repeated, you are to come into the bushes." 
J. F. Cooper, Last of Mohicans, xxii.) 
wish-wash (wish'wosh), ». [A varied redupl. 
of wash.'] Anything wi.shy-washy ; especially, 
a thii., sloppy drink. [Colloq.] 
wishy-washy (wish'i-wosh^i), a. and n. [A 
varied redupl. of washy. Cf. w-ish-wash.'\ I, a. 
Very thin an<l weak ; diluted ; sloppy : original- 
ly use*l to note liquid substances; hence, fee- 
ble; lacking insubstantial or desirable quali- 
ties; insignificant: as, a wishy-washy speech. 
[Colloq.] 
A good seaman, . . . noneof your Guinea-pigs, nor your 
fresh-water, wishy-washy, fair-weather fowls. 
Stnollett. (Imp. Diet.) 
The wishy-washy, bread-and-butter period of life. 
Trollope, Barchester Towers, xli. 
H. n. Any sort of thin, weak liquor. [Col- 
loq.] 
wisket fwis'ket), n. Same as whisket. 
■wisliciet, wislokert, adv. Middle English forms 
of wiKi'li/. iri.li Her (more wisely). 
wislyt, <"lv. [ME., also icysbj, wisUkc; < AS. 
f/i.winlicc, gewmlicc, < gcwis, certain : see icis^, 
iwis.] Certainly; surely. 
1 not myself iioght wtjdy what it is. 
Chaucer, Trollus, iii. 1653. 
wisp (wisp), H. [< ME. wixp, wijsp, weni), wispe, 
also wipa, an older form (the x being prob. for- 
mative) ; not found in AS. ; cf . LG. wiep, a wisp ; 
cf. Norw. vippa, something that skips about, a 
wisp to sprinkle or daub with, a swape, or ma- 
chine for raising water, etc., = Sw. dial, ripp, 
an ear of rye, a Tittle sheaf or bundle ; cf . Goth. 
waips, also mij>ja, a crown. Il'isp has nothing 
6949 
to do with M)Ai«il : see wftisil.] 1. A handful 
or small bundle, as of straw or hay ; a twisted 
handful. 
A uisp of straw were worth a thousand crowns 
To make this shameless callet know herself. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 2. 144. 
When indeed his admired mouth better deserved the 
help of Doctor Executioner, tliat he might wipe it with a 
hempen wisp. Tom Noah his Ghost, p. 8. 
Of this commission the bare-armed Bob, leading the 
way with a flaming wisp of paper, . . . speedily acquitted 
himself. Dickeiu, Our Mutual IMend, i. 13. 
2. A whisk, or small broom.— 3. An ignis fat- 
uus, or will-o'-the-wisp. 
Or like a icurp along the marsh so damp. 
Which leads beholders on a boggy walk, 
He flitted to and fro a dancing light, 
Which all who saw it follow'd, wrong or right. 
Byron, Don Juan, vii. 46. 
We did not know the real light, but chased 
The wisp that flickers where no foot can tread. 
Tennyson, Princess, iv. 
4. A disease in cattle, consisting in inflamma- 
tion and suppuration of the interdigital tissues, 
most commonly of the hind feet, it may be due 
to the irritation of dirt, to overgrowth of the hoof, or 
other causes. Also called/ouZ in (Ae/oo(. X\sq whisp. 
To cure a Bullock that hath the Whisp (that is lame be- 
tween the Clees). Aubrey, Misc., p. 138. 
5. In falconry, a flight or walk of snipe. =Syix. 
6. Covey, etc. See_rfocfrl. 
wisp (wisp), V. t. [< tcisp, H.] 1. To brush, 
dress, or rub down with or as with a wisp. — 2. 
To rumple. HaUiuell. [Prov. Eng.] 
wispent (wis'pn), a. [< icisp + -■jh2.] Formed 
of a wisp or wisps. 
she hath already put on her wispen garland. 
G. Harvey, Pierce's Supererogation (Brydge's Archaica, 
[H. 149). 
wispy (wis'pi), (I. [< wisp + -i/1.] Like a wisp. 
A pinched, wispy little man. 
Z>. C. Murray, Weaker Vessel, xi. 
wisst, ''. '■ [ME. wissen, < AS. wissian, a var. 
of icman, show: see wwe^.] Same as wise^. 
IJyfle I wirke wronge, whom should me icys be any waye? 
York Plays, p. 32. 
Thow coudest nevere in love thiselven wysse, 
How devel maystow brynge me to blysse ? 
Chaucer, Troilus, i. 622. 
Knowest thon ouht a corseynt men calleth seynt Treuthe ? 
Const thou wissen vs the wey wher that he dwelleth? 
Piers Plowman (A), vi. 24. 
wissent, v. t. See wiss. 
Wissondayt, «• A Middle English variant of 
ft hitsioula;/. 
wistl. Preterit of wit^. 
Wist^ (wist), r. A spurious word, improperly 
used as present indicative (wisi.i) of wifl. 
[Rare.] 
But though he wists not of this, he is moved like the great 
Oennan poet. 
Buckle, Essays (Progi-ess of Knowledge), p. 195. 
Wistaria (wis-ta'ri-ii), n. [NL. (Nuttall, 1818), 
named in honor of Caspar Wistur, an American 
anatomist (1761-1818).] 1. A genus of legu- 
minous plants, of the tribe Galer/ca: and subtribe 
Tephro.siese. it is characterized by having papiliona- 
ceous flowers in terminal racemes, witli a smooth style and 
stamens usually completely diadelphous, and by a coria- 
ceous readily dehiscent legume, the last character sepa- 
rating it from the large tropical Old World genus MUlcttia. 
There are 2 or 3 species, natives of North .America, China, 
and Japan. They are lofty climbing shrnbs with odd-pin- 
nate leaves, entire feather-veined and reticulated leaflets, 
and small stipules. The handsome purplish flowers fonn 
terminal pendent racemes. They are much cultivated in 
America, commonly under the generic name (sometimes 
erroneously Wisteria)', in England they are often known 
as kidney-bean tree, in Australia as grape-fiower vine. W. 
Chinenxis, the Chinese, and W. frutescens, the American 
wistaria, are much used in the United States to cover ve- 
randas and walls. Tlie latter is a native of swamp-margins 
from Virginia to Illinois and southward, anil (ievelops its 
flowers at the same time with the leaves, instead of before 
them, as in H*. Chinensis. W. Japonica, by some thought 
not a distinct species, is commonly trained in Japan hori- 
zontally (m trellises over pleasure-seats as an ornamental 
shade ; it sometimes lives more than a century. 
2. U. c] A plant of this genus. 
wistful (wist'f ill), o. [Prob. for *m'7((.s(/h/, based 
on the older adverb icistli/, which is prob. for 
whistlij. The assumption that wistful stands for 
wishful is untenable; for the required change 
wishful > *wi.-!fitl > wistful eonld not occur in the 
mod. E. period, particularly with wishful itself 
remaining in use; but the sense 'longing' ap- 
pears to have arisen in part from association 
with wi.ihful. It is to be note<l that wistful in 
the earliest instance quoted (Browne) does not 
mean, as some dictionaries give it, merely 'ob- 
servant' or 'attentive,' and that its later uses 
are more or less indefinite, indicating that it 
was orig. a poetical word, based on some other, 
which otlier is prob. wistly for whistly as here 
wit 
assumed.] 1. Silent; hushed; standing in mute 
attention. 
In sullen mutt'rings chid 
The artlesse songsters, that their musicke still 
Should charme the sweet dale and the wistfull hill. 
W. Browtie, Britannia's Pastorals, ii. 2. 
This commanding creature . . . put on such a resig- 
nation in her countenance, and bore the whispers of all 
around the court with such a pretty uneasiness, . . . until 
she was perfectly confused by meeting something so tvist- 
ful in all she encountered. Steele, Spectator, No. 113. 
2. Full of thoughts ; contemplative ; musing ; 
pensive. 
Why, Grubbinol, dost thou so wistful seem ? 
There 's sorrow in thy look. 
Gay, Shepherd's Week, Friday. 
3. Wishful; longing. 
Lifting up one of my sashes, [I] cast many a wistful, mel- 
ancholy look towards the sea. 
Swift, Gulliver's Travels, ii. 8. 
No poet has expressed more vividly than Shelley the 
icistful eagerness of the human spirit to interpret the 
riddle of the universe. E. Vowden, Shelley, I. 75. 
■wistfully (wist'fiil-i), adv. In a wistful man- 
ner; pensivelv; earnestly; longingly; vrish- 
fully. 
With that, he fell again to pry 
Through perspective more wistftdly. 
S. Butler, Hudibras, II. iii. 468. 
The captive's miserable solace of gazing wistfidly upon 
the world from which he is excluded. 
Irving, Sketch-Book, p. 112. 
Doubtless there is nothing sinful in gazing ipistfully at 
the marvellous providences of God's moral governance, 
and wishing to understand them. 
J. H. Newinmi, Parochial Sermons, i. 204. 
wistfulness (wist' fill -nes), h. The state or 
property of being wistful. 
WistleSS (wist'les), «. [Irreg. < wist, known : 
see wit^. Cf. wistful and -lcss.'\ Not knowing; 
ignorant (of); unwitting (of). [Rare.] 
Wistless what I did, half from the sheath 
Drew its glittering blade. Southey, Joan of Arc, 1. 
wistlyt (wist'li), adv. [Prob. for whistly, i. e. 
'silently,' which sense suits the earliest quota- 
tions (cf. "And her eyes on all my motions with 
a mute observance hung," Tennyson, Loeksley 
Hall) ; the change of hw to w is very common 
in England, and may well have been assisted in 
this instance by association with wist, pret. of 
wit, and with wish; but to derive wistly from 
either wist or tvish (as if for wishedly) is con- 
trary to sound theory and to the actual use of 
the word. U'ishly in the "Mir. for Mags.," given 
as the "same as wistly," may be truly icishly, < 
wish + -ly'^. The same considerations apply to 
wistful, which appears to stand for "whistful.J 
1. Silently; with mute attention ; earnestly. 
Robyn behelde our comly kynge 
Wystly in the face. 
Lytell Geste of Robyn llode (Child's Ballads, V. 115). 
Speaking it, he wistly look'd on me ; 
As who should say, "I would thou wert the man 
That would divorce this terror from my heart. " 
Shak., Rich. II., v. 4. 7. 
For I'll go turn my tub against the sun. 
And u<stly mark how higher planets run. 
Contemplating their hidden motion. 
Marston, Satires, v. 171. 
wiston'wisll (wis'tgn-wish), «. Same as wish- 
tonici.ih. Oodman; Cones and Allen. 
wit^ (wit), )'. Pres. ind. 1st pers. wot, 2d pers. 
wost (erroneously wotfest, wotst), 3(1 pers. wot 
(erroneously wottcth), pi. wit, pret. wist, pp. 
wist (or witen). [A preterit-present verb whose 
forms have been much confused and misused 
in mod. E., in whi^i, except in the set phrase 
to wit, it is now used only arcliaically; early 
mod. E. also wcet, wctc. < ME. weten, witen (pres. 
1st pers. wot, wat, L'd pers. wost, wast, 3d pers. 
wot, wool, wat (also 1st pers. wile, 2d pers. witest, 
3d pers. witcth, witcs, wite:, eontr. wit), pi. witeth, 
weteth (subj. wite, witen), pret. wist, wiste, wuste, 
sometimes by assimilation wi.s,se, jipr. witand, 
wittand), < AS. witan (pres. ind. 1st pers. wat, 
'Jd pers. ivdst, 3d pers. wat, pi. witon — an old 
pret. used as present; pret. wiste, r)\. wiston), 
= OS. witan (pres. ind. wet) = OFries. wiia, 
weta (pres. wet) = D. ivctcn (pres. weet, pi'et. 
wi.st, pp. (jewcten) = LG. weten = OWi. wi::an, 
MHG. u'i:cen, G. wissen, know (pres. 1 wciss, '2 
weisst, 3 icci.is, pi. wissen, pret. wusste, pp. tje- 
wusst), = Icel. vita (pi-es. reit, pret. vissa, pp. 
vitathr) = Sw. reta (pres. vet, pret. vi.isle, pp. 
vetat) = Dan. vide (pres. vecd, pret. vidste, pp. 
vidst) = Goth, wiliin (pres. wait, pret. wis.sa, 
pp. not found), know: the inf. witan, with short 
vow(d, and sense 'know,' being a later form 
and sense, developed from the jiret. and subj. 
of witan, pret. *wdt, see, the present wat, know, 
being orig. this pret. *wdt, saw, 'I have seen' 
