sit
English
Etymology
From Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną, from *set-, from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“sit”). Cognate with West Frisian sitte, Low German sitten, Dutch zitten, German sitzen, Swedish sitta, Norwegian Bokmål sitte, Norwegian Nynorsk sitja; and with Irish suigh, Latin sedeo, Russian сиде́ть (sidétʹ).
Pronunciation
- enPR: sĭt, IPA(key): /sɪt/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file) Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɪt
Verb
sit (third-person singular simple present sits, present participle sitting, simple past sat, past participle sat or (archaic, dialectal) sitten)

- (intransitive, of a person) To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks.
- 1460-1500, The Towneley Playsː
- He is so fair, without lease, he seems full well to sit on this.
- After a long day of walking, it was good just to sit and relax.
- 1460-1500, The Towneley Playsː
- (intransitive, of a person) To move oneself into such a position.
- I asked him to sit.
- (intransitive, of an object) To occupy a given position permanently.
- The temple has sat atop that hill for centuries.
- 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
- The Yellow Sea sits between the Korean Peninsula and China.
Audio (US) (file)
- The Yellow Sea sits between the Korean Peninsula and China.
- To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition.
- Bible, Numbers xxxii. 6
- And Moses said to […] the children of Reuben, Shall your brothren go to war, and shall ye sit here?
- Shakespeare
- Like a demigod here sit I in the sky.
- Bible, Numbers xxxii. 6
- (government) To be a member of a deliberative body.
- I currently sit on a standards committee.
- (law, government) Of a legislative or, especially, a judicial body such as a court, to be in session.
- In what city is the circuit court sitting for this session.
- To lie, rest, or bear; to press or weigh.
- Jeremy Taylor
- The calamity sits heavy on us.
- Jeremy Taylor
- To be adjusted; to fit.
- Your new coat sits well.
- Shakespeare
- This new and gorgeous garment, majesty, / Sits not so easy on me as you think.
- (intransitive, of an agreement or arrangement) To be accepted or acceptable; to work.
- How will this new contract sit with the workers?
- I don’t think it will sit well.
- The violence in these video games sits awkwardly with their stated aim of educating children.
- (transitive, causative) To cause to be seated or in a sitting posture; to furnish a seat to.
- Sit him in front of the TV and he might watch for hours.
- 1874, James Thomson, The City of Dreadful Night, XX
- (transitive) To accommodate in seats; to seat.
- The dining room table sits eight comfortably.
- I sat me weary on a pillar's base, / And leaned against the shaft
- (intransitive) shortened form of babysit.
- I'm going to sit for them on Thursday.
- (transitive, US) To babysit
- I need to find someone to sit my kids on Friday evening for four hours.
- (transitive, Australia, New Zealand, Britain) To take, to undergo or complete (an examination or test).
- To cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl; to brood; to incubate.
- Bible, Jer. xvii. 11
- The partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not.
- Bible, Jer. xvii. 11
- To take a position for the purpose of having some artistic representation of oneself made, such as a picture or a bust.
- I'm sitting for a painter this evening.
- To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position; to have direction.
- Selden
- like a good miller that knows how to grind, which way soever the wind sits
- Sir Walter Scott
- Sits the wind in that quarter?
- Selden
Quotations
- For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:sit.
Synonyms
- (be in a position in which the upper body is upright and the legs are supported): be seated
- (move oneself into such a position): be seated, sit down (from a standing position), sit up (from a prone position), take a seat
- (of an object: occupy a given position permanently): be, be found, be situated
- (be a member of a deliberative body):
- (be accepted): be accepted, be welcomed, be well received
- (to accommodate in seats): seat
Derived terms
- besit
- sit around
- sit back
- sit by
- sit down
- sit for
- sit idly by
- sit out
- sit shivah
- sit through
- sit tight
- sit up
- sit up with
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
See also
- sit around
- sit back
- sit by
- sit down
- sit-in
- sit on it, sit on it and rotate, sit on it and rotate till it bleeds
- sit on one's hands
- sit on the fence
- sit out
- sit pretty
- sit through
- sit tight
- sit under
- sit up
- sit-upon
Noun
sit (plural sits)
- (rare, Buddhism) An event, usually lasting one full day or more, where the primary goal is to sit in meditation.
References
- Entry about past simple sate in Webster's dictionary
Afrikaans
Etymology
Formally from Dutch zitten (“to sit”), from Old Dutch *sitten, from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną. Semantically from a merger of the former and related Dutch zetten (“to set, put”), from Proto-Germanic *satjaną, whence also Afrikaans set (chiefly in compounds). Both Germanic verbs are eventually from Proto-Indo-European *sed-.
Verb
sit (present sit, present participle sittende, past participle gesit)
- (intransitive) to sit; to be in a sitting position (usually used with op, binne or in)
- (intransitive) to sit; to sit down to move into a sitting position
- Sit asseblief.
- Please sit down.
- (transitive) to place, to put
- Ek sit jou sleutels op die tafel.
- I am putting your keys on the table.
- (transitive) to deposit
- Ek gaan al my geld in die bank sit.
- I am going to deposit all my money in the bank.
Usage notes
- Sit and its derivatives are usually more commonly used than plaas for their overlapping senses, but are sometimes considered less formal than plaas, especially in formal writing.
Danish
Pronoun
See also
Number | Person | Inflection | Nominative | Accusative | Possessive | Reflexive | Reflexive possessive |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | First | common | jeg | mig | min | ||
neuter | mit | ||||||
plural | mine | ||||||
Second | common | du | dig | din | |||
neuter | dit | ||||||
plural | dine | ||||||
formal | De | Dem | Deres | ||||
Third | masculine | han | ham | hans | sig | sin | |
feminine | hun | hende | hendes | ||||
common | den | den | dens | ||||
neuter | det | det | dets | sit | |||
plural | sine | ||||||
Plural | First | — | vi | os | vores | ||
common | vor | ||||||
neuter | vort | ||||||
plural | vore | ||||||
Second | – | I | jer | jeres | |||
formal | De | Dem | Deres | ||||
Third | – | de | dem | deres | sig |
Gothic
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /sit/, [sɪt]
Verb
sit
References
- sit in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
Latvian
Verb
sit
- 2nd person singular present indicative form of sist
- 3rd person singular present indicative form of sist
- 3rd person plural present indicative form of sist
- 2nd person singular imperative form of sist
- (with the particle lai) 3rd person singular imperative form of sist
- (with the particle lai) 3rd person plural imperative form of sist
Norwegian Nynorsk
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology 1
From Proto-Slavic *sytъ (“satiated, full”), from Proto-Indo-European *s(e)h₂tos, from *seh₂- (“to satiate”).
Declension
singular | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
---|---|---|---|---|
nominative | sit | sita | sito | |
genitive | sita | site | sita | |
dative | situ | sitoj | situ | |
accusative | inanimate animate |
sit sita |
situ | sito |
vocative | sit | sita | sito | |
locative | situ | sitoj | situ | |
instrumental | sitim | sitom | sitim | |
plural | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
nominative | siti | site | sita | |
genitive | sitih | sitih | sitih | |
dative | sitim(a) | sitim(a) | sitim(a) | |
accusative | site | site | sita | |
vocative | siti | site | sita | |
locative | sitim(a) | sitim(a) | sitim(a) | |
instrumental | sitim(a) | sitim(a) | sitim(a) |
singular | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
---|---|---|---|---|
nominative | siti | sita | sito | |
genitive | sitog(a) | site | sitog(a) | |
dative | sitom(u/e) | sitoj | sitom(u/e) | |
accusative | inanimate animate |
siti sitog(a) |
situ | sito |
vocative | siti | sita | sito | |
locative | sitom(e/u) | sitoj | sitom(e/u) | |
instrumental | sitim | sitom | sitim | |
plural | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
nominative | siti | site | sita | |
genitive | sitih | sitih | sitih | |
dative | sitim(a) | sitim(a) | sitim(a) | |
accusative | site | site | sita | |
vocative | siti | site | sita | |
locative | sitim(a) | sitim(a) | sitim(a) | |
instrumental | sitim(a) | sitim(a) | sitim(a) |
singular | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
---|---|---|---|---|
nominative | sitiji | sitija | sitije | |
genitive | sitijeg(a) | sitije | sitijeg(a) | |
dative | sitijem(u) | sitijoj | sitijem(u) | |
accusative | inanimate animate |
sitiji sitijeg(a) |
sitiju | sitije |
vocative | sitiji | sitija | sitije | |
locative | sitijem(u) | sitijoj | sitijem(u) | |
instrumental | sitijim | sitijom | sitijim | |
plural | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
nominative | sitiji | sitije | sitija | |
genitive | sitijih | sitijih | sitijih | |
dative | sitijim(a) | sitijim(a) | sitijim(a) | |
accusative | sitije | sitije | sitija | |
vocative | sitiji | sitije | sitija | |
locative | sitijim(a) | sitijim(a) | sitijim(a) | |
instrumental | sitijim(a) | sitijim(a) | sitijim(a) |
singular | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
---|---|---|---|---|
nominative | najsitiji | najsitija | najsitije | |
genitive | najsitijeg(a) | najsitije | najsitijeg(a) | |
dative | najsitijem(u) | najsitijoj | najsitijem(u) | |
accusative | inanimate animate |
najsitiji najsitijeg(a) |
najsitiju | najsitije |
vocative | najsitiji | najsitija | najsitije | |
locative | najsitijem(u) | najsitijoj | najsitijem(u) | |
instrumental | najsitijim | najsitijom | najsitijim | |
plural | masculine | feminine | neuter | |
nominative | najsitiji | najsitije | najsitija | |
genitive | najsitijih | najsitijih | najsitijih | |
dative | najsitijim(a) | najsitijim(a) | najsitijim(a) | |
accusative | najsitije | najsitije | najsitija | |
vocative | najsitiji | najsitije | najsitija | |
locative | najsitijim(a) | najsitijim(a) | najsitijim(a) | |
instrumental | najsitijim(a) | najsitijim(a) | najsitijim(a) |