<Perhaps, I misconstrued your meaning? -JCJ>
JC, I found this for you. Dictionary dot com is a pretty good resource to bookmark, at times like these.
Could have been any one of the different definitions and etymological derivations in either the active or the nominative form, but if pressed, I would guess Tom C meant the last of the nominative forms, which I have bolded for your convenience, hope this helps.
dictionary.com
5 entries found.
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weid-
Important derivatives are: guide, wise1, wisdom, guise, idol, kaleidscope, Hades, wit1, unwitting, view, visa, vision, advice, clairvoyance, envy, evident, interview, provide, review, supervise, survey, idea, history, story1, penguin.
To see.
I. Full-grade form *weid-.
a. twit, from Old English wtan, to reproach;
b. guide, from Old Proven‡al guidar, to guide;
c. guy(1), from Old French guier, to guide;
d. wite, from Old English wte, fine, penalty, from Germanic derivative noun *wti-. a, b, c, and d all from Germanic *wtan, to look after, guard, ascribe to, reproach.
2. Suffixed form *weid-to-.
a. wise1, from Old English ws, wise;
b. wisdom, from Old English wsdm, learning, wisdom (-dm,
abstract suffix; see dh-);
c. wiseacre, from Old High German wssago, seer, prophet;
wise2, from Old English wse, ws, manner;
guise, from Old French guise, manner. Both (i) and (ii) from Germanic *wssn-, appearance, form, manner. a, b, c, and d all from Germanic *wssaz.
Suffixed form *weid-es-. eidetic, eidolon, idol, idyll, -oid; idocrase, kaleidoscope, from Greek eidos, form, shape.
Zero-grade form *wid-.
wit1, from Old English wit, witt, knowledge, intelligence;
witenagemot, from Old English wita, wise man, councilor. Both a and b from Germanic *wit-.
wit2; unwitting, from Old English witan, to know, from Germanic *witan.
Suffixed form *wid-to-. iwis, from Old English gewis, gewiss, certain, sure, from Germanic *wissaz, known.
Form *wid-- (with participial form *weid-to-). vide, view, visa, visage, vision, vista, voyeur; advice, (advise), belvedere, black-a-vised, clairvoyant, envy, evident, interview, previse, provide, review, supervise, survey, from Latin vidre, to see, look.
Suffixed form *wid-es-ya. idea, ideo-, from Greek idea, appearance, form, idea.
Suffixed form *wid-tor-. history, (story1); polyhistor, from Greek histr, wise, learned, learned man.
hadal, Hades, from Greek Haids (also Aids), the underworld, perhaps ?the invisible? and from *wid-.
Suffixed nasalized form *wi-n-d-o-.
colcannon, from Old Irish find, white (< ?clearly visible?);
penguin, from Welsh gwyn, gwynn, white.
(see deru-) Celtic compound *dru-wid-, ?strong seer? (*dru-, strong).
Suffixed o-grade form *woid-o-. Veda; Rig-Veda, from Sanskrit veda, knowledge.
[Pokorny 2. (e)di- 1125.]
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Pronunciation Key
Source: The American Heritage© Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition
Copyright ¸ 1996, 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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twit (twt)
v. tr. twitúted, twitúting, twits.
To taunt, ridicule, or tease, especially for embarrassing mistakes or faults. See Synonyms at ridicule.
n.
1. The act or an instance of twitting.
2. A reproach, gibe, or taunt.
3. Slang. A person regarded as foolishly annoying.
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[Short for obsolete atwite, from Middle English atwiten, from Old English ‘twtan: ‘t, at; see at1 + wtan, to reproach; see weid- in Indo-European Roots.]
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