Etymologically
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kit

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English kitt, kyt, probably borrowed from Middle Dutch kitte (“jug, tankard, wooden container”),[2][3][4] a word of unknown origin.[2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A round wooden tub or pail: 1275, in the compound kittewritt “maker of kits”, and as a word on its own from 1362 in Barnhart and 1375 in the OED.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages, then, a kit was a wooden tub.[8] The soldier's equipment packed in a knapsack is from 1785, a transfer from the container to the articles in it.[2][3][8] A traveller's personal effects is from 1833,[3][7] and a workman's tools from 1825 in the OED, 1851 in Etymonline.[7][2] A set of drums is by 1929,[2][7] and a set of parts to be assembled by the buyer from the 1930s.[2][3] The informal sense “a lot, collection”, as in the whole kit and caboodle, is first in Grose's dictionary of 1785.[3] The verb, to equip, as in kit out, is from 1919.[3]

Timeline

  • 1275 – a wooden tub.[3]
  • 1785 – a soldier's equipment.[2][3]
  • 1833 – personal effects.[3]
  • 1919 – verb, to equip.[3]
  • 1929 – a drum kit.[2]
  • 1930s – parts for assembly.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A set of tools or supplies used for a particular purpose: a first-aid kit.
  2. A set of parts to be put together: a model kit.
  3. (chiefly British) The clothing and equipment for a sport or activity, or a soldier's or traveller's gear.
  4. A container for such a set.

Verb

  1. (chiefly British) To equip someone, usually with out or up.

Word family

  • kit bag
  • mess kit
  • press kit
  • caboodle

Usage notes

A small fiddle once used by dancing masters, from the 1510s, is perhaps from Latin cithara, Greek κιθάρα.[2][5][6] Kit, a young cat or other small fur-bearing animal, is a shortening of kitten, from 1562.[4][6] In New Zealand, a kit is a flax basket, from Māori kete.[6]

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press