Other forms: twits
Twit is a British informal word for a foolish person. Mild, affectionate, and almost never taken seriously.
It is one of the gentlest insults English has, which is why it survives in children's books and in mock exasperation between friends. Calling somebody a complete twit is barely a criticism at all. There is a separate old verb meaning to tease somebody about something, which now sounds thoroughly dated. Its close British relatives are berk, clot and wally, and all of them are milder than they sound to an outsider.
1nountwitA silly or foolish person.
“Some twit had parked across the entrance.”
A twit was a reproach before it was a fool. Old English ætwītan meant to blame or to taunt, from a root meaning to see, so twitting somebody was pointing at what they had done.
Proto-Indo-European
*weyd- — to see
Proto-Germanic
*wītaną — to punish; to torment; to know; to see
Old English
ætwītan — to blame, reproach; to censure, upbraid; to taunt
Middle English
atwiten — to attribute (something) to someone; to blame (something) on someone; to accuse or charge (someone) with something; to speak ill of; to taunt
English, today
twit
Built from
The verb is an atwite, from Middle English atwiten (“to attribute (something) to someone; to blame (something) on someone; to accuse or charge (someone) with something; to speak ill of; to taunt”), from Old English ætwītan (“to blame, reproach; to censure, upbraid; to taunt”), from æt- + wītan (“to accuse; to blame, reproach”) (from Proto-Germanic wītaną (“to punish; to torment; to know; to see”), from Proto-Indo-European weyd- (“to see”)). advise. The noun is probably derived from the verb, although it is attested in print earlier.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA