sit English · revision 2707

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725, Beowulf|origins=ine-pro *sed-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|sitten]],^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) [[inh|ang|sittan|t=to occupy a seat; to remain; to settle; to besiege]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*sitjaną|alt=*setjan]],^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*sed-|t=to sit]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is cognate with Old Frisian sitta, Old Saxon sittian, Dutch zitten, German sitzen and Old Norse sitja,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and outside Germanic with [[la|sedēre]] and [[m|la|sēdēs|t=seat]], Greek hézesthai “to sit” and hédrā “seat”, Lithuanian sėdėti and Sanskrit sīdati “sits”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English sittan, about 725 in ''Beowulf'',^(Barnhart 1988) meant “to be seated, sit down”, but also “to remain, continue”, “to settle, encamp” and “to lie in wait, besiege”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “to have a seat in a legislative assembly” is from the late 14th century, and of an assembly, “to hold a session”, from the 1510s.^(Etymonline) To sit for a portrait is from the 1530s.^(Etymonline) Old English sittan also meant “to fit, suit”, of clothes, from which came the noun ''sit'', the way a garment fits (1776).^(Hoad 1986)^(OED 1989) Sitting on eggs to hatch them, said of hens, and resting or lying in a place, as in ''the house sits on a hill'', are recorded senses in the modern dictionaries.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) The forms of sit and [[set]] have long been confused,^(Barnhart 1988) and the old past tense ''set'' is now dialectal and ''sate'' archaic.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English sittan.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – to have a seat in an assembly.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1510s – of an assembly, to hold a session.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1530s – to pose for a portrait.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1776 – noun, the way a garment fits.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1853 – ''sit'', short for situation.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To rest with the body upright and its weight on the [[buttocks]]; to take a seat.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of an animal, to rest on its hindquarters; of a bird, to [[perch]]; of a hen, to cover eggs for hatching.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To be situated or to lie in a place: ''the book sat on the shelf''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To be a member of an assembly; of an assembly, to be in [[session]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To [[pose]] for a portrait or photograph.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To take an examination; to [[babysit]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The way a garment fits.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+ # A period of sitting.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[set]]

+ * [[seat]]

+ * [[settle]]

+ * [[sedentary]]

+ * [[session]]

+ * [[saddle]]

+ * [[nest]]

+ * [[sit-in]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Sit'' is intransitive and ''set'' mostly transitive: one sits down, but sets something down.^(AHD) The past tense and past participle are ''sat'',^(SOED 2002) ''sitten'' is obsolete except in Scots.^(SOED 2002) The British abbreviation ''sits vac'' (situations vacant) uses a separate ''sit'', short for [[situation]], from 1853.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}