sit

1. (international standards)ISO 639-2 &ISO 639-5language code forSino-Tibetan languages.

• enPR:sĭt,IPA^(key):/sɪt/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Audio(General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɪt

FromMiddle Englishsitten, fromOld Englishsittan, fromProto-West Germanic*sittjan, fromProto-Germanic*sitjaną, fromProto-Indo-European*sed-(“sit”).

sit (third-person singular simple presentsits,present participlesitting,simple pastsator(dated, poetic)sate,past participlesator(archaic, dialectal)sitten)

1. (intransitive,copulative, of a person) To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by thebuttocks.
   • 15th c., “[The Creation]”, inWakefield Mystery Plays; Re-edited in George England,Alfred W. Pollard, editors,The Towneley Plays (Early English Text Society Extra Series; LXXI), London:[…] Oxford University Press,1897,→OCLC,page 5, lines120–121:

     He is so fayre, withoutten les, / he semys full well tosytt on des.

     He is so fair, without any limit; his appearance shows well when he sits on the dais.

   • 1593,Michael Drayton, “The Eighth Eglog”, inIdea the Shepheards Garland, […], London:[…][T. Orwin] for Thomas Woodcocke, […],→OCLC; republished asJ[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor,Idea the Shepheards Garland,[London]:[Privately printed],1870,→OCLC,page64:

     This were as good as curds for ourJone, / When at a night weſitten by the fire.

   After a long day of walking, it was good just tosit and relax.

   You're finishing the chowder if yousit there (motionless) all evening!

2. (intransitive, of a person) To move oneself into such a position.

   I asked him tosit.

3. (intransitive, of an object) To occupy a given position.

   The dishes are stillsitting on the table!

   The temple hassat atop that hill for centuries.

   Jim's pet parrotsat on his left shoulder.

   • 2019,VOA Learning English (public domain)

     The Yellow Seasits between the Korean Peninsula and China.

4. (intransitive,copulative) To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition.
   • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Numbers32:6:

     And Moses said to[…] the children of Reuben, Shall your brothren go to war, and shall yesit here?

   • c.1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act IV, scene iii]:

     Like a demigod heresit I in the sky.

5. (government) To be a member of adeliberative body.

   I currentlysit on a standards committee.

6. (law,government) Of a legislative or, especially, a judicial body such as a court, to be insession.

   In what city is the circuit courtsitting for this session?

7. To lie, rest, or bear; to press or weigh.
   • 1651,Jer[emy] Taylor,The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London:[…] Francis Ashe […],→OCLC:

     The calamitysits heavy on us.

8. To be adjusted; to fit.

   Your new coatsits well.

   • c.1596–1599 (date written),William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward] Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act V, scene ii]:

     This new and gorgeous garment, majesty, /Sits not so easy on me as you think.

9. (intransitive, of an agreement or arrangement) To be accepted or acceptable; towork.

   How will this new contractsit with the workers?

   I don’t think it willsit well.

   The violence in these video gamessits awkwardly with their stated aim of educating children.

10. (transitive,causative) Tocause to beseated or in asittingposture; tofurnish aseat to.

    Sit him in front of the TV and he might watch for hours.

11. (transitive) To accommodate in seats; toseat.

    The dining room tablesits eight comfortably.

    • 1899, James Thomson, “The City of Dreadful Night”, inThe City of Dreadful Night and Other Poems,sat%20me%20weary%20on%20a%20pillar's%20base%2C%20%2F%20And%20leaned%20against%20the%20shaft%22&f=false page43:

      Isat me weary on a pillar's base, / And leaned against the shaft

12. (US,ambitransitive) Tobabysit.

    I'm going tosit for them on Thursday.

    I need to find someone tosit my kids on Friday evening for four hours.

    • 1980,Stephen King,The Mist:

      I saw[…] Mrs. Turman, who sometimessat Billy when Steff and I went out[…]

    • 2024 March 19, Faith Hill, “Don’t Tell America the Babysitter’s Dead”, inThe Atlantic‎^[1]:

      Sitting was a “quintessentially American experience,” Yasemin Besen-Cassino, a Montclair State University sociologist and the author ofThe Cost of Being a Girl: Working Teens and the Origins of the Gender Wage Gap, told me.

13. (transitive,Australia,New Zealand,UK) To take, to undergo or complete (an examination or test).
15. To cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl; to brood; to incubate.
    • 1611,The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker, […],→OCLC,Jeremiah17:11:

      The partridgesitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not.

16. To take a position for the purpose of having some artistic representation of oneself made, such as a picture or a bust.

    I'msitting for a painter this evening.

17. To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position; to have direction.
    • 1689,John Selden,Table Talk:

      like a good miller that knows how to grind, which way soever the windsits

    • 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott],Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume(please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh:[…]James Ballantyne and Co. forLongman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; andArchibald Constable and Co., […],→OCLC:

      Sits the wind in that quarter?

18. (obsolete,transitive) To keep one's seat when faced with (a blow, attack); toendure, toput up with.[13th–19th c.]
    • 1790,Amelia Opie, chapter 5, inDangers of Coquetry, volume I:

      Louisa, who[…] had but ill born the commencement of this conversation, couldsit it no longer, and hastily throwing up the sash, complained of the intense heat of the room.

• For quotations using this term, seeCitations:sit.

• (be in a position in which the upper body is upright and the legs are supported):be seated
• (move oneself into such a position):be seated,sit down(from a standing position),sit up(from a prone position),take a seat
• (of an object: occupy a given position permanently):be, befound, besituated
• (be a member of a deliberative body):
• (be accepted): beaccepted, bewelcomed, bewellreceived
• (to accommodate in seats):seat

sit (pluralsits)

1. An act of sitting.
2. (mining)Subsidence of theroof of acoal mine.
3. (rare,Buddhism) Anevent, usually lasting one fullday or more, where the primarygoal is to sit inmeditation.

sit (pluralsits)

1. (informal)Clipping ofsituation.
   • 2012, Gail Shisler,For Country and Corps: The Life of General Oliver P. Smith:

     The increasing scope of the disaster was relayed in short, terse sentences whose brevity does not conceal the unfolding nightmare.[…] In mid-afternoon at 1600: “Sit is getting worse; need help badly,” “have considerable number of wounded that are unable to evacuate.”

• sitrep

sit

1. (Stenoscript)Abbreviation ofsituation,situational,situationally, oretc..

• 'tis,its,its',IST,TIs,t'is,tis,STI,TIS,is't,ist,it's,-ist,'its,Ist,TSI,ITS,S.T.I.

Formally fromDutchzitten(“to sit”), fromFrankish*sittjan, fromProto-Germanic*sitjaną. Semantically from a merger of the former and relatedDutchzetten(“to set, put”), fromProto-Germanic*satjaną, whence alsoAfrikaansset (chiefly in compounds). Both Germanic verbs are eventually fromProto-Indo-European*sed-.

• IPA^(key):/sət/

• Audio:

  (file)

sit (presentsit,present participlesittende,past participlegesit)

1. (intransitive) tosit; to be in a sitting position(usually used withop,binne orin)

   Sysit en sein vir haar dogtertjie.

   Sheis sitting and gesturing to her young daughter.

2. (intransitive) tosit; tosit down to move into a sitting position

   Sit asseblief.

   Pleasesit down.

3. (transitive) toplace, toput

   Eksit jou sleutels op die tafel.

   Iam putting your keys on the table.

4. (transitive) todeposit

   Ek gaan al my geld in die banksit.

   I am going todeposit all my money in the bank.

• Sit and its derivatives are usually more commonly used thanplaas for their overlapping senses, but are sometimes considered less formal thanplaas, especially in formal writing.

• (to deposit):deponeer,plaas
• (to place):neersit,plaas

• afsit
• besit
• neersit
• opsit
• sitplek

• beset

Onomatopoeic

• IPA^(key):(Central,Balearic,Valencia)[ˈsit]

sit m (pluralsits)

1. bunting(bird of the genusEmberiza)

• “sit”, inDiccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition,Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan:Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April

sit n (commonsin,pluralsine)

1. (reflexive possessive) third-personsg pronoun, meaninghis/her/its (own)

• IPA^(key):/ˈsit/,[ˈs̠it̪]
• Rhymes:-it
• Syllabification^(key):sit
• Hyphenation^(key):sit

sit

1. (colloquial ordialectal)alternative form ofsitten

sit

1. romanization of𐍃𐌹𐍄

• (Ala-Laukaa)IPA^(key):/ˈsit/,[ˈs̠id]
• (Soikkola)IPA^(key):/ˈsit/,[ˈʃid̥]
• Rhymes:-it
• Hyphenation:sit

sit

1. alternative form ofsiit
   • 2008, “Läkkäämmä omal viisii [We're speaking[our] own way]”, inInkeri‎^[2], volume 4, number69, St. Petersburg, page12:

     Tämä on Savimäen kylä asit ono veel Hammalan kylä.

     This is the Savimäki village andthen there is also the Hammala village.

• Olga I. Konkova, Nikita A. Dyachkov (2014)Inkeroin Keel: Пособие по Ижорскому Языку‎^[3],→ISBN, page35

Related to Vepssid'.

sit

1. here

• (Classical Latin)IPA^(key):[ˈsɪt]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical)IPA^(key):[ˈsit̪]

sit

1. third-personsingularpresentactivesubjunctive ofsum
   • 4th century,St Jerome,Vulgate,Tobit 3:23

     Sit nomen tuum Deus Israhel benedictum in saecula. (Be thy name, O God of Israel, blessed for ever.)

• "sit", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’sGlossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

sit

1. inflection ofsist:
   1. second/third-personsingularpresentindicative
   2. third-personpluralpresentindicative
   3. second-personsingularimperative
2. (with the particlelai)third-personsingularimperative ofsist
3. (with the particlelai)third-personpluralimperative ofsist

Compare the colloquial and dialectal Finnish"sit" (the standard form of which issitten).

sit

1. then
2. when

• Pertti Virtaranta, Raija Koponen (2009) “sit”, in Marja Torikka, editor,Karjalan kielen sanakirja‎^[4], Helsinki: Kotus,→ISSN

• IPA^(key):(before 13^th CE)/ˈs̠iːt/

sīt

1. second-personpluralpresentimperative ofsīn /wësen

CompareSouthern Ohlonesit(“tooth”).

sit

1. (plural only)teeth,set ofteeth
2. (withhimmen) atooth

• María de los Angeles Colós, José Guzman, and John Peabody Harrington (1930s)Chochenyo Field Notes (Survey of California and Other Indian Langauges)‎^[5], Unpublished

sit

1. present ofsitja andsitta
2. imperative ofsitja

• IPA^(key):/sit/

sit

1. third-personsingularpresentindicative ofsittan

sit

1. inflection ofsitja:
   1. first-personsingularpresentactiveindicative
   2. second-personsingularpresentactiveimperative

• IPA^(key):/ˈɕit/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes:-it
• Syllabification:sit

Inherited fromProto-Slavic*sitъ.

sit m inan

1. anyrush of the genusJuncus

See the etymology of the correspondinglemma form.

sit n

1. genitiveplural ofsito

• sit in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• sit in PWN's encyclopedia

Borrowed fromFrenchsite orEnglishsite.

sit n (pluralsituri)

1. picturesquelandscape
2. site of a city
3. archeological site
4. (Internet)website

   Synonym:site

Inherited fromProto-Slavic*sytъ, fromProto-Balto-Slavic*sā́ˀtas, fromProto-Indo-European*seh₂-.

• IPA^(key):/sît/

sȉt (Cyrillic spellingси̏т,definitesȉtī,comparativesitiji)

1. sated,full

   Antonyms:gladan,lačan

• “sit”, inHrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian),2006–2025

Inherited fromProto-Slavic*sitъ.

• IPA^(key):/sîːt/

sȋt m animacy unspecified (Cyrillic spellingси̑т)

1. rush (genusJuncus)

• “sit”, inHrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian),2006–2025

FromProto-Slavic*sytъ.

• IPA^(key):/sít/

sȉt (comparativebȍlj sȉt,superlativenȁjbolj sȉt)

1. sated,full

FromProto-Slavic*sitъ.

• site,sȋtje,sitína

sȋt m inan

1. rush (genusJuncus)

• “sit”, inSlovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene),2014–2025

sit

1. tooth

FromEnglishshit.

sit

1. (vulgar)faeces,shit.

• sithaus

FromProto-Finnic*sitta, fromProto-Uralic*sitta. Cognates includeFinnishsitta.

sit

1. shit