In Ben Jonson's time it had this signification, as in one
of his plays entitled "Every Man in his Humour." Dispositions being very
different, it came to signify fancy--as where Burton, author of the
"Anatomy of Melancholy," is called humorous--and also the whimsical Sir
W. Thornhill in the "Vicar of Wakefield"--and finally meant the feeling
which appreciates the ludicrous, though we sometimes use the old sense
in speaking of a good-humoured man.
Wit is a Saxon word, and originally signified Wisdom--a witte was a wise
man, and the Saxon Parliament was called the Wittenagemot. We may
suppose that wisdom did not then so much imply learning as natural
sagacity, and came to refer to such ingenious attempts as those in the
Exeter Book. Here would be a basis for the later meaning, especially if
some of the old saws came to be regarded as ludicrous, but for a long
time afterwards wit signified talent, whether humorous or otherwise, and
as late as Elizabeth the "wits" were often used as synonymous with
judgment. Steele, introducing Pope's "Messiah" in the Spectator, says
that it is written by a friend of his "who is not ashamed to employ his
wit in the praise of of his Maker." Addison introduced the word genius,
and the other was relegated to humorous conceits--a change no doubt
facilitated by the short and monosyllabic form and sound.
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