Etymologically
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hit

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English hitten, inherited from Old English hittan (“to come upon, meet with”) (also hyttan), borrowed from Old Norse hitta (“to light upon, meet with; to hit”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *hitjan, of uncertain origin.[2][5] Barnhart compares Welsh cwyddo (“to fall”) and traces both to Proto-Indo-European *keid- (“to fall”),[3] while Merriam-Webster suggests a link with Old English hentan (“to pursue, seize”).[6] Its relatives include Swedish hitta (“to find”) and Danish hitte (“to hit, find”).[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To come upon, meet with: late Old English hyttan, before 1075.[3][8]

Semantic evolution

In late Old English the meaning shifted to “to strike”, by way of “to reach with a blow or missile”, and hit displaced the Old English slēan, modern slay, in this sense.[2] Barnhart finds “to strike” probably before 1200, in Layamon's Brut.[3] The old sense survives in hit it off (1780) and in the slang hit on (1970s).[2] The noun meant “a rebuke” before 1475 and “a blow” from 1598.[3][2] Hit the nail on the head is from the 1570s, an image from archery according to Etymonline;[2] in late Middle English it had the form “hit on the head of the nail's end”.[8] A successful play or song has been a hit since 1811, from the verb's sense “to hit the mark, succeed”,[3][2] and the word was used in cricket from 1810–11.[3] Hit the road is from 1873, hit the hay from 1912 and hit the bottle from 1933.[2] In drug slang a hit is a dose from 1951, and in underworld slang a planned killing from 1970.[2]

Timeline

  • before 1075 – late Old English hyttan, to come upon.[3]
  • before 1200 – to strike (Layamon).[3]
  • before 1475 – noun, a rebuke.[3]
  • 1570s – hit the nail on the head.[2]
  • 1598 – noun, a blow.[3]
  • 1780 – hit it off.[2]
  • 1811 – a success.[3][2]
  • 1873 – hit the road.[2]
  • 1951 – a dose of a drug.[2]
  • 1970 – a planned killing.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To come against with force; to strike.
  2. To reach with a missile or blow: hit the target.
  3. To press a key or button.
  4. To affect badly: hit hard by the drought.
  5. To come upon or reach; to arrive at: hit the road.
  6. (baseball, cricket) To bat; to make a hit.

Noun

  1. A blow, collision or impact.
  2. A successful shot, stroke or throw.
  3. A successful or popular venture, such as a song or film.
  4. (slang) A dose of a narcotic drug, or a puff of a cigarette.
  5. (slang) A planned murder by a criminal gang.

Word family

  • hitless
  • hittable
  • hitter
  • king-hit
  • megahit
  • mishit
  • nonhit
  • hit man
  • slay
  • hit-and-run

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press