I wiss

English

Alternative forms

• I wuss, I wis

Etymology

From an incorrect assumption made by editors where i-wiss, iwis (“certainly, for sure”) was hypercorrected to I wiss, as if wiss were a verb and I were the pronoun I. See also wiss, wis, iwis.

Adverb

I wiss (not comparable)

1. (archaic or poetic) surely, certainly; indeed, assuredly
   • 1904, Child, Sargent, Kittredge, English and Scottish popular ballads:

     To tell the truth, I'm well informed / Yon match is a wile; The sheriff, I wiss, devises this / Us archers to beguile.

   • 1631, James Ussher, Charles Richard Elrington, The whole works: Volume 4:

     Such wholesome directions doth the bishop of Rome give unto those that will be ruled by him : far different (I wiss) from that holy doctrine, wherewith the Church of Rome was at first seasoned by the apostles [...]

   I take him for some fiend, I wiss. — Grim, the Collier of Croydon, author unknown.