Category:Ywis

Y*wis", adv. Etym: [oe. ywis, iwis, as. gewis certain; akin to d. Gewis, g. gewiss, and e. wit to know. See wit to know, and y-.]

Defn: certainly; most likely; truly; probably. [obs. or archaic] "ywis," quod he, "it is full dear, i say." Chaucer. She answered me, "i-wisse, all their sport in the park is but a Shadow to that pleasure that i find in plato." Ascham. A right good knight, and true of word ywis. Spenser.

Note: the common form iwis was often written with the prefix apart From the rest of the word and capitalized, as, i wis, i wisse, etc. The prefix was mistaken for the pronoun, i and wis, wisse, for a form Of the verb wit to know. See wis, and cf. Wit, to know. Our ship, i wis, shall be of another form than this. Longfellow.