pit English · revision 6774
16 Oct 2026, 12:39 by bogdan “en10k b0250: opera … frequent” current version
Initial text
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+ English has two words spelled pit: the hole in the ground, and the stone of a fruit.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /pɪt/^(Wiktionary)
+
+ {{homograph|1|hole}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=847|origins=la puteus}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The hole is [[inh|enm|pit]], put, [[inh|ang|pytt|t=water hole, well, pit]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gmw-pro|*puttī]], an early West Germanic borrowing of [[la|puteus|t=well, pit, shaft]],^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) with cognates in [[ofs|pet]], [[nl|put|t=well]] and [[de|Pfütze|t=puddle]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) De Vaan, quoted by Etymonline, suggests that the Latin word may itself be a loan.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A hole or hollow in the ground: 847 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ An excavation for minerals, a mine, is from 956.^(OED 1989) Hell, the abode of evil spirits, is from the late 12th century, and a small depression in a surface from the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) A hollow in the body is by the late 13th century, and the ''pit of the stomach'' from the 1650s.^(Etymonline) The floor of a theatre below the stage is from the 1640s,^(Etymonline) the area beside a racetrack where cars are refuelled and repaired is later,^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) and the trading floor of an exchange is American by 1903.^(Etymonline) The verb, to put into a pit, is from the mid-15th century; from setting cocks or dogs to fight in a pit comes the sense of setting people against each other (1754).^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) ''The pits'', the worst possible thing, is slang,^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) and Word Origins notes ''pits'' for armpits since the 1960s.^(Cresswell 2021)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 847 – a hole in the ground.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 956 – a mine.^(OED 1989)
+ * late 12th century – hell.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1640s – the pit of a theatre.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1754 – to set against each other.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1903 – a trading floor.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A large hole in the ground, natural or dug.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # A [[coal]] mine, or its shaft.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # A small hollow or scar in a surface, as left by [[smallpox]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # The area beside a racetrack where cars are refuelled and repaired.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # The [[orchestra pit]] in a theatre, or the floor of the auditorium.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # ''the pit'': [[hell]], and in slang ''the pits'', the worst.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # To set in opposition or competition: ''pit them against each other''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # To mark with small hollows or scars.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[pitfall]]
+ * [[pitted]]
+ * [[cockpit]]
+ * [[armpit]]
+ * [[pit bull]]
+
+ {{homograph|2|stone of a fruit}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1841|origins=dum pitte}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The stone of a fruit is [[bor|nl|pit|t=kernel, seed, marrow]], from [[m|dum|pitte]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) ultimately from the same Germanic source as [[pith]].^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)^(SOED 2002)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The hard seed of a cherry, peach or similar fruit: 1841, in American English;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) MWU has 1803.^(MWU 2024)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It is chiefly North American and South African.^(SOED 2002) The verb, to remove the pits from fruit, is from before 1930, originally American.^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1841 – a fruit stone.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)
+ * before 1930 – to remove pits.^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # ''(chiefly North American)'' The single hard [[stone]] of a fruit such as a cherry or peach.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # To remove the pits from fruit.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[pith]]
+ * [[puteal]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}