bit English · revision 3628

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|small piece}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1050 (Old English bita)|origins=ine-pro *bheid-}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The small piece is [[inh|enm|bite|t=morsel]], [[inh|ang|bita|t=piece bitten off, morsel]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|ang|bītan|t=to bite]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*bitōn]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*bheid-|t=to split]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) Its relatives include [[non|biti]] and [[de|Bissen|t=a bite, morsel]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) and in English [[bite]] and [[bitt]].^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A piece bitten off, a morsel: Old English ''bita'', before 1050, in the West Saxon Gospels.^(Barnhart 1988) Middle English ''bite'' is found probably about 1200, in the ''Ormulum''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From a mouthful the word spread to any small piece or fragment, in the 16th century^(Hoad 1986) or about 1600,^(Etymonline) and to a short space of time in the 1650s.^(Etymonline) The ''bit'' as a small coin, as in ''two bits'', began in the American South and the West Indies, where wedges were cut from Spanish silver dollars, and came to mean an eighth of a dollar.^(Etymonline) A ''bit part'' in the theatre is from 1909.^(Etymonline) An entertainer's routine and, informally, a kind of behaviour or situation (''the whole family bit'') are later senses.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1050 – Old English ''bita'', a morsel.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – Middle English ''bite'' (''Ormulum'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 16th century – a small piece of anything.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1650s – a short time.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1909 – ''bit part''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small piece, portion or amount.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A short time; a moment.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A small part in a play or film; a [[bit part]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A regular [[routine]] by an entertainer; an act.^(AHD)

+ # ''(informal)'' A particular kind of behaviour or situation.^(AHD)

+ # ''(US)'' An eighth of a dollar, used in even multiples: ''two bits''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ {{homograph|2|mouthpiece, drill}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725, Beowulf (Old English bite)|origins=ine-pro *bheid-}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The mouthpiece and the drill are [[inh|enm|bitt]],^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|bite|t=a bite, biting]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*bitiz]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from the base of [[m|ang|bītan|t=to bite]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) Its relatives include [[de|Biss|t=a bite]] and [[non|bit]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) Hoad finds the source of the sense “mouthpiece” unclear, and compares Old English [[m|ang|bitol|t=bridle]] and German [[m|de|Gebiss]].^(Hoad 1986) Barnhart notes that Old English ''bite'' and [[m|ang|bita]] merged in Middle English, and can be told apart only by the history of their senses.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A bite, the act of biting: Old English ''bite'', about 725, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Barnhart dates the sense “cutting edge” to probably before 1300, in ''Arthour and Merlin'',^(Barnhart 1988) and Hoad to the 14th century.^(Hoad 1986) The part of a bridle that goes in a horse's mouth is a ''bit'' from the mid-14th century^(Etymonline) or about 1386,^(Barnhart 1988) and the boring tool, the “biting” part of a drill, from the 1590s.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, “to put a bit in a horse's mouth”, and figuratively “to curb”, is from 1583.^(MW Collegiate)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''bite'', a bite (''Beowulf'').^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1300 – a cutting edge.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-14th century – the mouthpiece of a bridle.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1583 – verb, to put a bit on a horse.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1590s – a boring tool.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The metal mouthpiece of a [[bridle]], used to control a horse.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A tool for drilling or boring, fitted in a [[brace]] or [[drill]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The cutting edge of a tool such as an axe.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ # The part of a [[key]] that enters the lock and works the bolt.^(AHD)

+ # Something that controls or restrains.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put a bit in the mouth of a horse.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To check or [[curb]] as if with a bit.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ {{homograph|3|binary digit}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=blend|attested=1948}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The unit of information is a [[blend]] of [[binary]] and [[digit]],^(AHD 2000)^(COED 2004)^(SOED 2002) coined in 1948 by the American computer pioneer John W. Tukey,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) probably because it was the same as ''bit'' “small piece”.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) Compare [[byte]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A binary digit, a unit of information in computing: 1948.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1948 – coined by John W. Tukey.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(computing)'' Either of the [[binary]] digits 0 and 1.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A unit of information equal to a choice between two equally likely alternatives.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A unit of information storage capacity, as of [[memory]].^(AHD)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bite]]

+ * [[bitt]]

+ * [[bitter]]

+ * [[byte]]

+ * [[binary]]

+ * [[digit]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Bit'' is also the past tense of ''bite''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}