698 
W I T 
one of thy wits, than I have in my whole five. Shakspeare. 
— [In the plural.] Soundness of understanding; intellect 
not crazed; sound mind. 
I had a son 
Now outlaw’d from my blood ; he sought my life: 
The grief hath craz’d my wits. Shakspeare '. 
Contrivance; stratagem; power of expedients; invention; 
ingenuity.—I was like to be apprehended for the witch of 
Brentford; but that my admirable dexterity of wit, counter¬ 
feiting the action of an old woman, delivered me. Shaks¬ 
peare. 
WIT (De), There were several painters of this name very 
respectable in their profession. Peter Candido de Wit, born 
at Bruges in 1548, went to Italy, and became a friend and 
co-labourer with G. Vasari. He was afterwards employed by 
the grand duke of Tuscany at Florence, and painted in oil 
and fresco. The emperor Maximilian invited him to Mu¬ 
nich, and there he terminated his career. Gasper de Wit, 
his brother, painted small landscapes very highly finished, in 
which he introduced Italian architectural ruins. Of later 
date was Emanuel de Wit, born at Alkmaer in 1607, and a 
painter of still life. He afterwards became a painter of ar¬ 
chitecture and perspective views of churches, &c. which 
were touched with great clearness, animation, and spirit. 
He died in 1692. Another of the name, Jacob de Wit, is 
the flower of the flock. He was born at Amsterdam in 
1695, and having exhibited a desire for the pursuit of art, 
was placed with Van Spiers, an historical paiuter, for three 
years. He afterwards went to Antwerp to contemplate the 
admirable productions of Rubens and Vandyke, which 
adorned that city ; and there he became the pupil of Jacob 
van Halen, continuing with him two years. 
To him we are indebted for the preservation of the com¬ 
position made by Rubens for four ceilings, divided into thir¬ 
ty-six compartments, in the church of the Jesuits, which was 
destroyed by lightning in 1718. They have been since en¬ 
graved from de Wit's sketches by John Prout. 
He was employed by the magistrates of Amsterdam in 
1736, to adorn their great council-chamber; and his work 
has had the honour of being applauded by sir J. Reynolds. 
His sketches for his larger works are touched with great free¬ 
dom and neatness, and with good colour. He was living in 
1744. 
WITCH, s. [piece, Saxon ; from the West-Goth, wita, 
fascinare, Serenius; from the Sax. piccian, incantare, Mr. 
H. Tooke. Old English wiche.\ A woman given to un¬ 
lawful arts. 
The night-hag comes to dance 
With Lapland witches, while the labouring moon 
Eclipses at their charms. Milton. 
[From pic, Saxon.] A winding sinuous bank. Witch is 
here the reading of all the old copies of Spenser. Hughes 
altered it to ditch. 
Leave me those hills where harbrough nis to see, 
Nor holy bush, nor briar, nor winding witch. Spenser. 
To WITCH, v. a. To bewitch ; to enchant. 
’Tis now the very witching time of night. 
When church-yards yawn. Shakspeare. 
WITCH ISLAND, one of the smaller Virgin islands ; 6 
miles east of St. John. 
WITCHAM, a parish of England, in Cambridgeshire; 3 
miles south of Clithero. 
WITCHAMPTON, a parish of England, in Dorsetshire. 
Population 377. 
WITCHCRAFT, s. The practices of witches.—People 
are credulous, and ready to impute accidents and natural 
operations to witchcraft. Bacon. —Power more than na¬ 
tural. 
If you cannot. 
Bar his access to the king, never attempt 
Any thing on him, for he hath a witchcraft 
Over the king in’s tongue. Shakspeare. 
WIT 
WFTCHELM, s. A kind of elm. Scott. —There's a 
good deal of virtue in that wand; I fancy ’tis made out of 
witch-elm. Addison. 
WITCHERY, s. Enchantment.—Another kind of petty 
witchery, if it be not altogether deceit, they call charming 
of beasts and birds. Ralegh. 
Great Comus ? 
Deep-skill’d in all his mother's witcheries. Milton. 
WITCHFORD, a parish of England, in the Isle of Ely, 
Cambridgeshire. 
WITCHINGHAM, Great, a parish of England, in Nor¬ 
folk, near Reepham. 
WITCHINGHAM, Little, a hamlet in the foregoing 
parish, and adjoining thereto. 
WITCOMBE, a hamlet of England, in the parish of Cor- 
ton Dinham, Somersetshire.—2. Another hamlet in the same 
county, parish of Martock. 
WITCOMBE, Great, a parish of England, in Glouces¬ 
tershire, near Painswick. 
WITCHCRAFT, s. Contrivance; invention. Obsolete. 
—He was nobody that could not hammer out of his name 
an invention by this witchcraft, aud picture it accordingly. 
Camden. 
WI'TCRACKER, s. A joker; one who breaks a jest.— 
A college of witcrackers cannot flout me out of my hu¬ 
mour ; dost thou think I care for a satire or an epigram ? 
Shakspeare. 
To WITE, v. a. [pitan, Saxon.] To blame; to reproach. 
The palmer gan most bitterly 
Her to rebuke, for being loose and light; 
Which not abiding, but more scornfully 
Scoffing at him, that did her justly wite. 
She turn’d her boat about. Spenser. 
WITE, s. Blame ; reproach.—His own thought he 
knew most clear from wite. Spenser. 
WFTELESS, adj. Blameless.—Ne can Willie wite the 
witeless herdgroom. Spenser. 
WITGENSTE1N, a small county in the Prussian states, 
adjoining the west part of the province of Upper Hesse, be¬ 
longing to Hesse-Darmstadt. Its area is nearly 200 square 
miles; its population about 15,000. It belongs to the prin¬ 
ces of Sayn-Witgenstein-Witgenstein, and Sayn-Witgenstein- 
Berleburg. 
WITH, preposit. [prS, Saxon. Serenius refers this pre¬ 
position to the M. Goth, withan, to join ; of which Mr. H. 
Tooke also pronounces it the imperative mood.] By. No¬ 
ting the cause. 
Truth, tir’d with iteration, 
As true as steel, as plantage to the moon. Shakspeare. 
Noting the means.—Rude and unpolished are all opera¬ 
tions of the soul in their beginnings, before they are cultiva¬ 
ted with art and study. Dryden. —Noting the instrument. 
—By perflations with large bellows, miners give motion to 
the air. Woodward. —On the side of; for; noting confede¬ 
racy, or favour.—Fear not for I am with thee. Genesis.— 
In opposition to ; in competition or contest. 
I do contest as hotly and as nobly with thy love. 
As ever against thy valour. Shakspeare. 
Noting comparison.—Can blazing carbuncles with her 
compare ? Sandys. —In society ; noting connection.—-God 
gave man a soul that should live for ever, although the body 
be destroyed ; and those who were good should be with 
him. Stillingfleet.- —In company of.—At the instant that 
your messenger came, in loving visitation was with me, a 
young doctor from Rome. Shakspeare. —In appendage; 
noting consequence, or concomitance.—Men might know 
the persons who had a right to regal power, and with it to 
their obedience. Locke. —In mutual dealing.—I will buy 
with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and 
so following; but I will not eat with you, drink with you, 
nor pray with you. Shakspeare. —Noting confidence: as, 
I trust you with all my secrets; or, I trust all my secrets with 
you.—In partnership. 
Though 
