hvatti, hvatt, pres. hvet, part. hvattr, Gh. 6; a middle form hvöttomc, Hom. 29; [A. S. hwettgan; Engl. whet; Germ. wetzen; cp. hvass]:—to whet, sharpen a cutting instrument; h. sverð, Kormak; h. spjót, Fb. i. 189; Skarphéðinn hvatti öxi, Nj. 66, Fs. 72, Landn. 293; h. gadd, Stj. 77.

II. metaph. to make one keen, encourage; þats mik hvatti hugr, Ls. 64; síðan hvatti hann lið sitt, Fms. ix. 509, Hðm. 2; hvat hvatti þik hingat, what urged thee to come here? Nj. 6; h. ok hvessa, Fms. vii. 37; hugr mik hvatti, Fm. 6; heilög ritning hvetr oss opt at fara, Hom. 9, Fs. 6, passim: part, hvetjandi, an inciter, instigator, Mar. 656 A. i. 12: pass, hvatinn, cut; hvatinn spjóti, pierced with a spear, Fas. ii. (in a verse), απ. λεγ.; cp. hvatt (q. v.), of the sheep mark, which seems to point to an affinity between Engl. to cut and Icel. hvetja.