sit

See also sít, síť, and šít

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; and with Irish suigh, Latin sedeo, Russian сидеть.

Pronunciation

• enPR: sĭt, IPA: /sɪt/, X-SAMPA: /sIt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

Verb

sit (third-person singular simple present sits, present participle sitting, simple past and past participle sat)

A painting of a man sitting.

1. (intransitive, of a person) To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and the legs (especially the upper legs) are supported by some object.

   After a long day of walking, it was good just to sit and relax.

2. (intransitive, of a person) To move oneself into such a position.

   I asked him to sit.

3. (intransitive, of an object) To occupy a given position permanently.

   The temple has sat atop that hill for centuries.

4. (government) To be a member of a deliberative body.

   I currently sit on a standards committee.

5. (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.

6. (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.

7. (transitive) 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
8. (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

9. (intransitive) shortened form of babysit.

   I'm going to sit for them on Thursday.

10. (transitive, US) To babysit

    I need to find someone to sit my kids on Friday evening for four hours.

11. (transitive, Australia, New Zealand, UK) (Of an examination or test) To take.

Conjugation

• An obsolete form of the simple past is sate and of the past participle is sitten.

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see the citations page.

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

terms derived from sit (verb)

sit around sit back sit by sit down sit for sit idly by sit in sit in for sit in on

sit on sit out sit shivah sit through sit tight sit up sit up with

Translations

of a person, be in a position in which the upper body is upright and the legs are supported

• Afrikaans: sit (af)
• American Sign Language: H@BackFinger-FingerAcrossPalmDown-H@CenterChesthigh-PalmDown
• Arabic: جلس (ar) (jálasa)
• Aramaic:

  Syriac: ܝܬܒ (ʼitev)

• Armenian: նստել (hy) (nstel) 
• Asturian: sentar (ast)
• Basque: eseri (eu)
• Belarusian: сядзець (be) (sjadzéc') 
• Bulgarian: седя (bg) (sedjá) 
• Burmese: ထိုင် (my) (htaiñ)
• Catalan: seure (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 坐 (cmn) (zuò)

• Czech: sedět (cs)
• Danish: sidde (da)
• Dutch: zitten (nl)
• Esperanto: sidi (eo)
• Faroese: sita (fo)
• Finnish: istua (fi)
• French: être assis (fr) m, être assise (fr) f
• Galician: sentar (gl)
• German: sitzen (de)
• Gothic: 𐍃𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (sitan)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἕζομαι (hezomai)

  Modern: καθίσει (el) (kathomai) 

• Hebrew: ישב (he) (yasháv)
• Hindi: बैठना (hi) (baiṭhnā), बैठा होना (hi) (baiṭhā honā)
• Hungarian: ül (hu)
• Icelandic: sitja (is)
• Ido: sidar (io)
• Inari Sami: čokkáđ
• Irish: suigh (ga)
• Italian: sedere (it), essere seduto (it)
• Japanese: (anywhere) 座る (ja) (すわる, suwaru); (on an object that have height such as a chair) 腰掛ける (ja) (こしかける, koshikakeru)

• Khmer: អង្គុយ (km) (ɑngkuy)
• Korean: 앉다 (ko) (antda)
• Lao: ນັ່ງ (lo) (nang)
• Latgalian: sēdēt
• Latin: sedeo (la)
• Latvian: sēdēt (lv)
• Lithuanian: sėdėti (lt)
• Low German: sitten (nds)
• Macedonian: седи (mk) (sédi)
• Malay: duduk (ms)
• Ngarrindjeri: lewun
• Norwegian: sitte (no)
• Persian: نشستن (fa) (nešastan)
• Polish: siedzieć (pl)
• Portuguese: estar sentado (pt)
• Quechua: samay (qu), tiyay (qu)
• Rapa Nui: noho
• Romanian: ședea (ro), așeza (ro)
• Romansch: seser (rm), esser tschentà (rm)
• Russian: сидеть (ru) (sidét’)  impf.
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: седети (sh), сједјети (sh), сједити (sh)

  Roman: sedeti (sh), sjedjeti (sh), sjediti (sh)

• Sinhalese: වාඩිවෙනවා (si)
• Skolt Sami: išttâd
• Slovak: sedieť (sk)
• Slovene: sedeti (sl)
• Spanish: sentar se (es), estar sentado (es)
• Swedish: sitta (sv)
• Thai: นั่ง (th) (nâng)
• Turkish: oturmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: сидіти (uk) (sydíty) 
• Urdu: بیٹھنا (ur) (baiṭhnā), بیٹھا ہونا (ur) (baiṭhā hon)
• Vietnamese: ngồi (vi)
• West Frisian: sitte (fy)
• Yiddish: זיצן (yi) (zitsn)
• ǃXóõ: tshûu sg, ǃʻáã pl

move oneself into such a position

• American Sign Language: H@BackFinger-FingerAcrossPalmDown-H@CenterChesthigh-PalmDown
• Armenian: նստել (hy) (nstel) 
• Basque: eseri (eu)
• Bengali: বসা (bn) (bôsha)
• Breton: azezañ (br)
• Bulgarian: сядам (bg) (sjádam)  impf., седна (bg) (sédna)  pf.
• Burmese: ထိုင် (my)
• Catalan: asseure's (ca)
• Czech: sednout (cs)
• Finnish: istuutua (fi)
• French: s’asseoir (fr)
• Galician: sentarse (gl)
• German: sich setzen (de), sich hinsetzen (de)
• Irish: suigh (ga)

• Italian: sedersi (it)
• Japanese: (anywhere) 座る (ja) (suwaru); (on an object that have height such as a chair) 腰掛ける (ja) (koshikakeru)
• Khmer: អង្គុយ (km) (ɑngkuy)
• Latin: consido (la)
• Neapolitan: s'assettà
• Norwegian: sette seg (no)
• Portuguese: sentar-se (pt)
• Romanian: se așeza (ro)
• Romansch: seser (rm)
• Russian: садиться (ru) (sadít’sja)  impf., сесть (ru) (sést’)  pf.
• Slovene: sesti (es), usesti se (es)
• Spanish: sentarse (es)
• Swedish: sätta (sv)

of an object: occupy a given position permanently

• Armenian: նստել (hy) (nstel) 
• Basque: eseri (eu)
• Estonian: püsima (et)
• Finnish: seistä (fi), olla (fi), maata (fi)
• German: liegen (de)

• Japanese: ある (ja) (aru)
• Norwegian: sitte (no)
• Russian: сидеть (ru) (sidét’)  impf.
• Spanish: asentarse (es)
• Swedish: sitta (sv), ligga (sv)

to be a member of a deliberative body

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 出任 (cmn) (chūrèn)

• Finnish: istua (fi)
• German: sitzen (de), angehören (de)

• Irish: suigh (ga)
• Japanese: いる (ja) (iru)
• Spanish: pertenecer (es)
• Swedish: sitta (sv)

of an agreement or arrangement, to be accepted

• Finnish: sopia (fi)
• Japanese: 受け入れる (ja) (uke-ireru)

• Spanish: encajar (es)
• Swedish: välkomnas (sv)

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 Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Aromanian: şedu
• Dutch: zitten
• Esperanto: sidi
• Georgian: ზის (ka) (zis) 
• Indonesian: duduk
• Interlingua: seder
• Korean: 앉다 (anda)

• Maltese: poġġi, bilqegħda
• Northern Sami: čohkkát
• Norwegian: sitte
• Persian: نشستن (nešastan)
• Swahili: kukaa
• Swedish: sitta

See also

Terms combined with the verb to sit

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)

1. (rare, Buddhism) an event (usually one full day or more) where the primary goal is to sit in meditation.

Translations

meditation event

• Finnish: istunto (fi)

References

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: formed · fight · agree · #765: sit · considerable · private · dinner

Anagrams

• IST
• its, it's
• STI
• 'tis, TIS

---

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch zitten.

Verb

sit (past participle gesit)

1. To sit

---

Danish

Pronoun

sit n (common sin, plural sine)

1. (reflexive possessive) third-person sg pronoun, meaning his/her/its (own)

See also

Danish personal pronouns

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

Romanization

sit

1. See 𐍃𐌹𐍄

---

Latin

Verb

sit

1. third-person singular present active subjunctive of sum
   1. "may he (she, it) be"
   2. "may he (she, it) exist"

---

Lojban

Rafsi

sit

1. rafsi of sitna.

---

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *sytъ (“satiated, full”), from Proto-Indo-European *s(e)h₂tos, from *seh₂- (“to satiate”).

Adjective

sȉt (definite sȉtī, comparative sitiji, Cyrillic spelling си̏т)

1. sated, full

Declension

    positive indefinite forms

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)

    positive definite forms

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)

    comparative forms

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)

    superlative forms

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)

Etymology 2

From New Latin sit.

Noun

sȋt m (Cyrillic spelling си̑т)

1. rush (genus Juncus)

---

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English shit.

Noun

sit

1. remnant