wis

/waɪs/

wis adverb: certainly, surely.

Adverb

wis (comparative more wis, superlative most wis)

(dialectal, obsolete, rare) Certainly, surely.
- So I wis would the Dragon under him […]1884, Charlotte Mary Yonge, The armourer's prentices
(dialectal, obsolete, rare) Really, truly.
(dialectal, obsolete, rare) Indeed.
- As wis God help me.c. 1368-1372, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Book of the Duchess

Adjective

wis (comparative more wis, superlative most wis)

(dialectal, obsolete, rare) Certain.
(dialectal, obsolete, rare) Sure.
- He was wis on his word.
- I am wis that it will happen.

Verb

wis (third-person singular simple present wis, no present participle, no simple past, past participle wist or wissed)

(archaic, no-past, no-present-participle, obsolete) To know.
- "The fire seven times tried this: / Seven times tried that judgement is, / That did never choose amiss. / Some there be that shadows kiss: / Such have but a shadow's bliss. / There be fools alive, I wis, / Silver'd o'er; and so was this. / I will ever be your head: / So be gone: you are sped."c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
(archaic, no-past, no-present-participle, obsolete) To think, suppose.
- Howe'er you wis.1850, Robert Browning, “(please specify the page)”, in Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day. A Poem, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC
(archaic, no-past, no-present-participle, obsolete) To imagine, ween; to deem.
- And oh, that I should see that star remote / Yet His near Glory miss / Whereto the sun itself and stars do float / As motes, I wis!1889, Harriet McEwen Kimball, Poems, "In the Garden"
- As sure as Heaven shall rescue me, / I have no thought what men they be; / Nor do I know how long it is / (For I have lain in fits, I wis) […]1797, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “Christabel. Part I.”, in Christabel: Kubla Khan, a Vision: The Pains of Sleep, London: […] John Murray, […], by William Bulmer and Co. […], published 1816, →OCLC...

Noun capitalized: WIS

WIS (uncountable)

(abbreviation, roleplaying games) Abbreviation of wisdom point.

Forms of wis

Adverb
comparative	more wis
superlative	most wis
Adjective
comparative	more wis
superlative	most wis
Verb
third-person singular present	wis
past participle	wist
past participle	wissed

Origin of wis

Inherited from Middle English wis (“certain, sure”), from an aphetic form of Middle English iwis, ywis (“certain, sure”) (from Old English ġewiss (“certain, sure”)), or of North Germanic origin, cognate with Icelandic viss (“certain, sure”), Dutch gewis (“certain, sure”), and German gewiss (“certain, sure”). Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gawissaz. More at iwis.

From an incorrect division, mistaking iwis (“certain”) for I wis (“I know”). See ywis for more information. The German verb wissen may appear similar, but in fact corresponds etymologically to the English verb wit; both of those verbs ultimately descend from the same Proto-Indo-European root as this one.

Words formed from wis

I wis
wisly

Words that rhyme with wis

31 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about wis

What does wis mean?: Wis means certainly, surely.
What part of speech is wis?: Wis can be an adverb, an adjective, a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce wis?: Wis is pronounced /waɪs/.

Words near wis in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: wis (page history and authors); WIS (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-wis.ogg.

Cite this entry: “wis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.