suit

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /suːt/, /sjuːt/, US /suːt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English siute, also sute, seute,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman siwte,^[2][4][5] from Old French sieute, suite “pursuit, act of following, hunt; retinue”,^[2][4] from Vulgar Latin *sequita, the feminine of *sequitus, replacing Latin secūtus, the past participle of sequī (“to attend, follow”),^[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *sekw- (“to follow”).^[2] The verb is from the noun.^[2][6] It is related to suite, sue, sequel and pursue.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Attendance at a lord's court as a feudal obligation: 1297 in the OED.^[7] Etymonline dates the word to about 1300, as “a band of followers, a retinue” and the livery they wore.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the matching livery of a retinue came the senses “set of clothes to be worn together”, before 1400,^[4] and “matching set of objects” by the late 14th century.^[2] The legal sense “lawsuit” is from the mid-14th century^[2] (Barnhart has 1412),^[4] and “the wooing of a woman” is from the late 15th century.^[2] A set of playing cards of one symbol is from the 1520s,^[2] 1529 in Latimer's sermons,^[4] also ultimately from the notion of livery, and to follow suit (1670s) is from card-playing.^[2] Its use as a derisive term for a businessman is from 1979.^[2] The verb meant “to be becoming” in the mid-14th century,^[2] “to be agreeable or convenient” from the 1570s, perhaps from the notion of joining a retinue dressed alike,^[2] and “to provide with clothes” also from the 1570s;^[2] suit up is American, from 1945,^[2] and suit yourself is attested by 1851.^[2]

Timeline

• 1297 – attendance at court.^[7]
• c. 1300 – a retinue; their livery.^[2]
• mid-14th century – a lawsuit; verb, to be becoming.^[2]
• before 1400 – a set of clothes.^[4]
• late 15th century – courtship.^[2]
• 1520s – a suit of cards.^[2]
• 1670s – to follow suit.^[2]
• 1851 – suit yourself.^[2]
• 1979 – a businessman.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A set of matching outer garments, usually a jacket with trousers or a skirt.
2. A costume for a particular activity: a diving suit.
3. A set of things used together.
4. Any of the four sets of playing cards in a pack.
5. A legal action; a lawsuit.
6. The act of courting a woman.
7. A petition or appeal.
8. (slang) A business executive.

Verb

1. To meet the requirements of; to fit.
2. To make appropriate; to adapt.
3. To be appropriate for; to befit.
4. To please or satisfy: suits me fine.
5. To provide with clothing.

Word family

• suited
• suitlike
• bodysuit
• catsuit
• countersuit
• jumpsuit
• nonsuit
• pantsuit

Related words

• prosecute
• suitable
• suite
• sue
• sequel
• pursue
• lawsuit

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 q r s t u v w x y Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press