Etymologically
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suit

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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
  • 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