Etimology
From Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, from Proto-West Germanic *sittjan, from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“sit”).
verb
sit (third-person singular simple present sits, present participle sitting, simple past sat or (dated, poetic) sate, past participle sat or (archaic, dialectal) sitten)
(intransitive, copulative, of a person) To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks.
(intransitive, of a person) To move oneself into such a position.
(intransitive, of an object) To occupy a given position.
(intransitive, copulative) To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition.
(government) To be a member of a deliberative body.
(law, government) Of a legislative or, especially, a judicial body such as a court, to be in session.
To lie, rest, or bear; to press or weigh.
To be adjusted; to fit.
(intransitive, of an agreement or arrangement) To be accepted or acceptable; to work.
(transitive, causative) To cause to be seated or in a sitting posture; to furnish a seat to.
(transitive) To accommodate in seats; to seat.
(US, transitive, intransitive) To babysit.
(transitive, Australia, New Zealand, UK) To take, to undergo or complete (an examination or test).
To cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl; to brood; to incubate.
To take a position for the purpose of having some artistic representation of oneself made, such as a picture or a bust.
To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position; to have direction.
(obsolete, transitive) To keep one's seat when faced with (a blow, attack); to endure, to put up with. [13th–19th c.]
Examples
He is so fayre, withoutten les, / he semys full well to sytt on des.He is so fair, without any limit; his appearance shows well when he sits on the dais.
He is so fair, without any limit; his appearance shows well when he sits on the dais.
This were as good as curds for our Jone, / When at a night we ſitten by the fire.
After a long day of walking, it was good just to sit and relax.
I asked him to sit.
The temple has sat atop that hill for centuries.
Jim's pet parrot sat on his left shoulder.
The Yellow Sea sits between the Korean Peninsula and China. Audio
Audio
And Moses said to […] the children of Reuben, Shall your brothren go to war, and shall ye sit here?
Like a demigod here sit I in the sky.
I currently sit on a standards committee.
In what city is the circuit court sitting for this session.
The calamity sits heavy on us.
Your new coat sits well.
This new and gorgeous garment, majesty, / Sits not so easy on me as you think.
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.
Sit him in front of the TV and he might watch for hours.
The dining room table sits eight comfortably.
I sat me weary on a pillar's base, / And leaned against the shaft
I'm going to sit for them on Thursday.
I need to find someone to sit my kids on Friday evening for four hours.
I saw […] Mrs. Turman, who sometimes sat Billy when Steff and I went out […]
Sitting was a “quintessentially American experience,” Yasemin Besen-Cassino, a Montclair State University sociologist and the author of The Cost of Being a Girl: Working Teens and the Origins of the Gender Wage Gap, told me.
The partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not.
I'm sitting for a painter this evening.
like a good miller that knows how to grind, which way soever the wind sits
Sits the wind in that quarter?
Louisa, who […] had but ill born the commencement of this conversation, could sit it no longer, and hastily throwing up the sash, complained of the intense heat of the room.
Related words
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
noun
sit (plural sits)
An act of sitting.
(mining) Subsidence of the roof of a coal mine.
(rare, Buddhism) An event, usually lasting one full day or more, where the primary goal is to sit in meditation.
noun
sit (plural sits)
(informal) Short for situation.
Examples
The increasing scope of the disaster was relayed in short, terse sentences whose brevity does not conceal the unfolding nightmare. […] In mid-afternoon at 1600: “Sit is getting worse; need help badly,” “have considerable number of wounded that are unable to evacuate.”
Related words
related terms
sitrep