Word definition: it

Etimology


From Middle English it, hit ( > dialectal English hit (“it”)), from Old English hit (“it”), from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this, here”). Cognate with West Frisian it (“it”), Saterland Frisian et, 't (“it”), Low German it (“it”), Dutch het (“it”), German es (“it”), Latin cis, hic. More at he.

pronoun


it (subjective and objective it, reflexive and intensive itself, possessive determiner and pronoun its)

The third-person singular neuter personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object, abstract entity, or non-human living thing.

A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to a baby or child, especially of unknown gender.

(obsolete) An affectionate third-person singular personal pronoun.

(chiefly derogatory, offensive) A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an animate referent who is transgender or is neither female nor male.

Used to refer to someone being identified, often on the phone, but not limited to this situation.

The impersonal pronoun, used without referent as the subject of an impersonal verb or statement (known as the dummy pronoun, dummy it or weather it).

The impersonal pronoun, used without referent, or with unstated but contextually implied referent, in various short idioms or expressions.

(uncountable) Sex appeal, especially that which goes beyond physical appearance.

The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly, object; known as the dummy pronoun (according to some definitions), anticipatory it or, more formally in linguistics, a syntactic expletive. The delayed subject is commonly a to-infinitive, a gerund, or a noun clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction.

All or the end; something after which there is no more.

(obsolete) Followed by an omitted and understood relative pronoun: That which; what.

Examples


Take this book and put it on the shelf.

Take each day as it comes.

I found a poor little cat. It seems to be half starving.

It is not a pen. It is a book. Audio

Audio

The Nansi District was formerly known as the "Jiaba Community", and was one of the early territories of the Taivoan, as well as where the Zou resided. Later, due to the invasion of the Siraya tribe, the community members later migrated out to regions such as Gongguan, Paoziliao , and Daciouyuan. During the time of the Japanese occupation, because of its location at the west of the "Nanzihsian River", it was therefore renamed Nansi . A village and village hall were established here, under the governance of Sinhua District of Tainan Province. After the war in 1945, it was renamed Nansi Township, and was changed to Nansi District after the merging of Tainan City and County on December 25th, 2010.

She took the baby and held it in her arms.

A child cannot quarrel with its elders, as I had done; cannot give its furious feelings uncontrolled play, as I had given mine, without experiencing afterwards the pang of remorse and the chill of reaction.

I could only encourage Mrs. Clements to speak next of Anne's early days […] "There was nobody else, sir, to take the little helpless creature in hand," replied Mrs. Clements. "The wicked mother seemed to hate it—as if the poor baby was in fault!—from the day it was born. My heart was heavy for the child, and I made the offer to bring it up as tenderly as if it was my own.""Did Anne remain entirely under your care from that time?""Not quite entirely, sir. Mrs. Catherick had her whims and fancies about it at times, and used now and then to lay claim to the child, as if she wanted to spite me for bringing it up.

The sky was dripping. Like a tap that a child has tried its hardest to turn off but hasn't quite managed.

" […] It's my belief that you don't know your own mind.""I don't, dear," said Hulda, nestling to him."Why, what a puss it is!" cried Sir Philip, kissing her tenderly.

She caught my eye, and laughed. “What a funny girl it is!” she cried. “You are so comical! But it isn't the least use your trying to frighten me. I can see the twinkle in your big black eyes; and I like you in spite of your trying to be horrid. Do you know, I liked you from the first moment I saw you.”

WILLIAM: You don't like me better?CLARA: Indeed I do.WILLIAM : Well, what a dear girl it is.CLARA : Oh, I do love you!

Next morning bought her [a drag queen] breakfast & she asked for a couple dollars to get a drink. Gave her $3, walked her to a bar. […] Some teenage boys watched us walking & began shouting. When I left her at the bar door & kissed her goodbye, they began shouting "Ugh! You kissed it!!"

"Oh, don't be silly. I am neither male nor female. I'm a farfel." […] "It. Refer to me as an it.""That seems pretty rude," I said nervously."Not as rude as calling me a he or a she," it said.

The individual known as Maia Arson Crimew was born as Tillie Kottmann on 7 August 1999 in Lucerne, Switzerland. Kottmann/Crimew has expressed on its website a desire to be referred to by ‘it’ pronouns , so this article will interchangeably refer to it by its preferred terms as either ‘Maia Arson Crimew’ or ‘it’.Crimew is a well-known figure among hacking and cybersecurity circles. It has either taken credit for or been attributed to hacks from several major multinational corporations, including […]

It's me. John.

Is it her?

It is I, your king.

It is nearly 10 o’clock.

It’s 10:45.

It’s very cold today.

It’s lonely without you.

rough it

live it up

stick it out

After all these years, she still has it.

Later that night, a friend told Brady, “Still got it.” “Never lost it,” he replied. THAT WAS MOSTLY TRUE. But the 2013 season ended with the Patriots coaches wondering whether Brady's skills were in a subtle but irrevocable decline […]

I caught them doing it.

Are you getting it regularly?

Is man really the only animal who does "it" face to face?

The great advantage of English public school life lies of course in the quality of tutelage it provides. Adrian had received a decent and broad English education in the area of his loins... He had quickly happened upon the truth which many lonely contemporaries would never discover, the truth that everybody, simply everybody, was panting for it and could, with patience, be shown that they were panting for it. So Adrian grabbed what was to hand and had the time of his life genitally—focusing exclusively on his own gender of course, for this was 1973 and girls had not yet been invented.

'Tisn't beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It's just It. Some women'll stay in a man's memory if they once walked down a street

And she had It. It, hell; she had Those.

It is easy to see how she would think that.

"I know now!" said I. "I have seen this in your face a long while.""No; have you really, my dear?" said he. "What a Dame Durden it is to read a face!"

I find it odd that you would say that.

It is hard seeing you so sick.

He saw to it that everyone would vote for him.

It is not clear if the report was true.

Are there more students in this class, or is this it?

That's it—I'm not going to any more candy stores with you.

In briefe, I am content, and what should providence add more? Surely this is it [= it which] wee call Happinesse, and this doe I enjoy [...].

determiner


it

(obsolete) Its.

Examples


That which groweth of it owne accord of thy haruest, thou ſhalt not reape, neither gather the grapes of thy Uine vndreſſed: for it is a yeere of reſt vnto the land.replaced by "its" in the 1769 Oxford Standard Text

replaced by "its" in the 1769 Oxford Standard Text

noun


it (plural its)

One who is neither a he nor a she; a creature; a dehumanized being.

The person who chases and tries to catch the other players in the playground game of tag.

(Britain) A game of tag.

(informal) A desirable characteristic, as being fashionable.

(informal) Sexual intercourse.

(informal) Sex appeal.

Alternative letter-case form of It (“force in the vitalist approach of Georg Groddeck”)

Alternative letter-case form of It (“the id”)

Examples


His master glanced up quickly, and removed the letter from his hands. "I'm surprised at you, James," he remarked severely. "A secretary should control itself. Don't forget that the perfect secretary is an it: an automatic machine—a thing incapable of feeling.…"

Too often, children become an "it" in their homes and their humanness is devalued.

In the next game, Adam and Tom will be it…

When there are only two children left who haven't been tagged, I will stop the game, and we will start over with those children starting as the Its.

Let's play it at breaktime.

Man, he's really got it.

She's the it girl, at least for this Fall.

OMG, they were doing it in storage room.

She really has it going on.

For Groddeck, the it is given, unknowable, and he does not try to conceptualize drives or forces. Early life and sexuality permeate […]

[…] thus reversing the roles of the I and the it, the former now occupying the place of the latter and vice versa. An awareness of our bisubjective nature requires thus an I as a third term that slides between  […]

adjective


it (not comparable)

(colloquial) Most fashionable, popular, or in vogue.

Examples


Going away for the weekend and feel the need to profile en route? This is the "it" bag.

With Hit Girl, Moretz is this year's It Girl, alternately sweet, savage and scary.

These Italian made sneakers quickly became an it shoe and the trend is not going anywhere any time soon!

Data provided by Wiktionary