tit
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tɪt/
- Rhymes: -ɪt
Etymology 1
From Middle English tit, titte, tette, from Old English tit, titt, from Proto-Germanic *titt- (“teat; nipple; breast”), from Proto-Indo-European *tata- (“father; parent; nipple”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tit, Dutch tiet, dialectal Dutch tet, German Zitze, Titte, Yiddish ציצע (tsitse). Probably related to an original meaning “to suck”. Compare Albanian thith (“to suck, breast, tit”) and teat.
Alternative forms
- tet (in certain senses only)
Noun
tit (plural tits)
- A mammary gland, teat.
- (slang, vulgar, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.
- 2012, Caitlin Moran, Moranthology, Ebury Press 2012, p. 13:
- I have enjoyed taking to my writing bureau and writing about poverty, benefit reform and the coalition government in the manner of a shit Dickens, or Orwell, but with tits.
- 2012, Caitlin Moran, Moranthology, Ebury Press 2012, p. 13:
- (Britain, derogatory, slang) An idiot; a fool.
- Look at that tit driving on the wrong side of the road!
- 2002, Dick Plamondon, Have You Ever Been Screwed, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 234,
- “What did you say to the cops?” / “I told them everything about the smuggling ring.” / “Why the fuck did you do that?” / “They were nice to me.” / “They’re always nice to people they want to get information from, you dumb tit.”
- 2012 January 15, Stephen Thompson, "The Reichenbach Fall", episode 2-3 of Sherlock, 00:52:46-00:52:55:
- John Watson (to Sherlock Holmes): It's Lestrade. Says they're all coming over here right now. Queuing up to slap on the handcuffs, every single officer you ever made feel like a tit. Which is a lot of people.
- (Britain, slang, derogatory) A police officer; a "tithead".
Synonyms
- (breast): See also Thesaurus:breast.
- (fool, idiot): See also Thesaurus:idiot.
Translations
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Etymology 2
Perhaps imitative of light tap. Compare earlier tip for tap (“blow for blow”), from tip, + tap; compare also dialectal tint for tant.
Etymology 3

Probably of Scandinavian origin; found earliest in titling and titmouse; compare Faroese títlingur, dialectal Norwegian titling (“small stockfish”).
Noun
tit (plural tits)
- A chickadee; a small passerine bird of the genus Parus or the family Paridae, common in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Any of various other small passerine birds.
- (archaic) A small horse; a nag.
- 1759, Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Penguin 2003, p. 28)
- he was resolved, for the time to come, to ride his tit with more sobriety.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Tusser to this entry?)
- 1759, Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Penguin 2003, p. 28)
- (archaic) A young girl, later especially a minx, hussy.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Burton to this entry?)
- A morsel; a bit.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)
Derived terms
- bearded tit - family Panuridae
- long-tailed tit - family Aegithalidae
- penduline tit - family Remizidae
- tit-babbler - family Timaliidae
- tomtit - family Petroicidae
- wrentit - family Sylviidae
- black-crested tit
- blue tit
- coal tit
- crested tit
- great tit
- marsh tit
- titlike
- tit warbler
- willow tit
Translations
- 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.
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Danish
Etymology 2
Verbal noun to titte (“peep, peek”), from Old Norse títa (“see”).
Faroese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tiːt/
- Rhymes: -iːt
Declension
Personal pronouns (Persónsfornøvn) | |||||
Singular (eintal) | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person masc. | 3rd person fem. | 3rd person neut. |
Nominative (hvørfall) | eg, jeg | tú | hann | hon | tað |
Accusative (hvønnfall) | meg, mjeg | teg, tjeg | hana | ||
Dative (hvørjumfall) | mær | tær | honum | henni | tí |
Genitive (hvørsfall) | mín | tín | hansara, hans† | hennara, hennar† | tess |
Plural (fleirtal) | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person masc. | 3rd person fem. | 3rd person neut. |
Nominative (hvørfall) | vit | tit | teir | tær | tey |
Accusative (hvønnfall) | okkum | tykkum | |||
Dative (hvørjumfall) | teimum, teim† | ||||
Genitive (hvørsfall) | okkara | tykkara | teirra |
Irish
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tʲɪtʲ/
Verb
tit (present analytic titeann, future analytic titfidh, verbal noun titim, past participle tite)
Conjugation
singular | plural | relative | autonomous | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||||
indicative | present | titim | titeann tú; titir† |
titeann sé, sí | titimid | titeann sibh | titeann siad; titid† |
a thiteann; a thiteas / a dtiteann*; a dtiteas* |
titear |
past | thit mé; thiteas | thit tú; thitis | thit sé, sí | thiteamar; thit muid | thit sibh; thiteabhair | thit siad; thiteadar | a thit / ar thit* |
titeadh | |
past habitual | thitinn | thiteá | thiteadh sé, sí | thitimis; thiteadh muid | thiteadh sibh | thitidís; thiteadh siad | a thiteadh / ar thiteadh* |
thití | |
future | titfidh mé; titfead |
titfidh tú; titfir† |
titfidh sé, sí | titfimid; titfidh muid |
titfidh sibh | titfidh siad; titfid† |
a thitfidh; a thitfeas / a dtitfidh*; a dtitfeas* |
titfear | |
conditional | thitfinn / dtitfinn‡‡ | thitfeá / dtitfeᇇ | thitfeadh sé, sí / dtitfeadh sé, s퇇 | thitfimis; thitfeadh muid / dtitfimis‡‡; dtitfeadh muid‡‡ | thitfeadh sibh / dtitfeadh sibh‡‡ | thitfidís; thitfeadh siad / dtitfidís‡‡; dtitfeadh siad‡‡ | a thitfeadh / ar thitfeadh* |
thitfí / dtitf퇇 | |
subjunctive | present | go dtite mé; go dtitead† |
go dtite tú; go dtitir† |
go dtite sé, sí | go dtitimid; go dtite muid |
go dtite sibh | go dtite siad; go dtitid† |
— | go dtitear |
past | dá dtitinn | dá dtiteá | dá dtiteadh sé, sí | dá dtitimis; dá dtiteadh muid |
dá dtiteadh sibh | dá dtitidís; dá dtiteadh siad |
— | dá dtití | |
imperative | titim | tit | titeadh sé, sí | titimis | titigí; titidh† |
titidís | — | titear | |
verbal noun | titim | ||||||||
past participle | tite |
* Indirect relative
† Archaic or dialect form
‡‡ Dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis
Derived terms
- tit amach (“fall out; quarrel; befall, happen”, intransitive verb)
- tit ar (“fall on; fall to lot of; decline, drift, towards; descend on; occur on”, intransitive verb)
- titchomhla f (“drop-valve”)
- tit chuig, tit chun (“pass into state of; accrue to”, intransitive verb)
- tit do (“fall into”, intransitive verb)
- tit faoi (“fall under”, intransitive verb)
- titghaiste m (“fall-trap”)
- tit i (“fall into; pass into state of; decline in”, intransitive verb)
- tit isteach le (“fall in with; become friendly with”, intransitive verb)
- tit le (“fall down along; fall to lot of; chance to get; succeed in doing; draw near to; occur to; fall by; suffer hardship for”, intransitive verb)
- tit thart (“drop off”, intransitive verb)
Related terms
- titimeach (“falling, tending to fall; caducous”, adjective)
- titimeán m (“dropper”) (fishing)
- titimeas m (“epilepsy”)
Mutation
Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
tit | thit | dtit |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Further reading
- "tit" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
- “1 do·tuit” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.
- Entries containing “tit” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
- Entries containing “tit” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.
Lashi
Kavalan
Pipil
Etymology
From Proto-Nahuan *tlai(h)-. Compare Classical Nahuatl tletl (“fire”)
Pronunciation
- (standard) IPA(key): /tiːt/