Wiktionary

sit

See also: Appendix:Variations of "sit"

Translingual

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Symbol

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sit

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-5 language code for Sino-Tibetan languages.

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *sed-
    Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
    Proto-Indo-European *sédyeti
    Proto-Germanic *sitjaną
    Proto-West Germanic *sittjan
    Old English sittan
    Middle English sitten
    English sit

    From Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, from Proto-West Germanic *sittjan, from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“sit”).

    Cognates

    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).

    Verb

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    sit (third-person singular simple present sits, present participle sitting, simple past sat or (dated, poetic) sate, past participle sat or (archaic, dialectal) sitten)

     
    A painting of a man sitting.
    1. (intransitive, copulative, of a person) To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks.
      • 15th c., “[The Creation]”, in Wakefield Mystery Plays; Re-edited in George England, Alfred W. Pollard, editors, The Towneley Plays (Early English Text Society Extra Series; LXXI), London: […] Oxford University Press, 1897, →OCLC, page 5, lines 120–121:
        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.
      • 1593, Michael Drayton, “The Eighth Eglog”, in Idea the Shepheards Garland, […], London: […] [T. Orwin] for Thomas Woodcocke, […], →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, Idea the Shepheards Garland, [London]: [Privately printed], 1870, →OCLC, page 64:
        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.
    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.
      The temple has sat atop that hill for centuries.
      Jim's pet parrot sat on his left shoulder.
      • 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
        The Yellow Sea sits between the Korean Peninsula and China.
    4. (intransitive, copulative) To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition.
    5. (government) To be a member of a deliberative body.
      I currently sit on a standards committee.
    6. (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?
    7. To lie, rest, or bear; to press or weigh.
      • 1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC:
        The calamity sits heavy on us.
    8. To be adjusted; to fit.
      Your new coat sits well.
    9. (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.
    10. (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.
    11. (transitive) To accommodate in seats; to seat.
      The dining room table sits eight comfortably.
    12. (US, ambitransitive) To babysit.
      I'm going to sit for them on Thursday.
      I need to find someone to sit my kids on Friday evening for four hours.
      • 1980, Stephen King, The Mist:
        I saw […] Mrs. Turman, who sometimes sat Billy when Steff and I went out […]
      • 2024 March 19, Faith Hill, “Don’t Tell America the Babysitter’s Dead”, in The Atlantic‎[1]:
        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.
    13. (transitive, Australia, New Zealand, UK) To take, to undergo or complete (an examination or test).
    15. To cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl; to brood; to incubate.
    16. 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.
    17. To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position; to have direction.
    18. (obsolete, transitive) To keep one's seat when faced with (a blow, attack); to endure, to put up with. [13th–19th c.]
      • 1790, Amelia Opie, chapter 5, in Dangers of Coquetry, volume I:
        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.
    Conjugation
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    Conjugation of sit
    infinitive (to) sit
    present tense past tense
    1st-person singular sit sat, sate (dated, poetic)
    2nd-person singular sat, sate (dated, poetic), sattest†
    3rd-person singular sits sat, sate (dated, poetic)
    plural sit
    subjunctive sit sat, sate (dated, poetic)
    imperative sit —
    participles sitting sat, sitten (archaic, dialectal)
    Quotations
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    Synonyms
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    Derived terms
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    Terms derived from sit (verb)
    Translations
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    of a person, be in a position in which the upper body is upright and the legs are supported
    to be a member of a deliberative body
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    Noun

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    sit (plural sits)

    1. An act of sitting.
    2. (mining) Subsidence of the roof of a coal mine.
    3. (rare, Buddhism) An event, usually lasting one full day or more, where the primary goal is to sit in meditation.
    Translations
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    Etymology 2

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    Noun

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    sit (plural sits)

    1. (informal) Short for situation.
      • 2012, Gail Shisler, For Country and Corps: The Life of General Oliver P. Smith:
        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.”
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    Multiple parts of speech

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    sit

    1. (Stenoscript) Abbreviation of situation and related forms of that word (situational, situationally, etc.)

    Anagrams

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    Afrikaans

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    Etymology

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    Formally from Dutch zitten (“to sit”), from Frankish *sittjan, 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-.

    Pronunciation

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    Verb

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    sit (present sit, present participle sittende, past participle gesit)

    1. (intransitive) to sit; to be in a sitting position (usually used with op, binne or in)
      Sy sit en sein vir haar dogtertjie.
      She is sitting and gesturing to her young daughter.
    2. (intransitive) to sit; to sit down to move into a sitting position
      Sit asseblief.
      Please sit down.
    3. (transitive) to place, to put
      Ek sit jou sleutels op die tafel.
      I am putting your keys on the table.
    4. (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

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    • 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.

    Synonyms

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    Derived terms

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    Catalan

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    Etymology

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    Onomatopoeic

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    sit m (plural sits)

    1. bunting (bird of the genus Emberiza)

    Derived terms

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    Further reading

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    Danish

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    Pronoun

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    sit n (common sin, plural sine)

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

    See also

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    Danish personal pronouns
    Number Person Type Nominative Oblique Possessive
    common neuter plural
    Singular First – jeg mig min mit mine
    Second modern / informal du dig din dit dine
    formal (uncommon) De Dem Deres
    Third masculine (person) han ham hans
    feminine (person) hun hende hendes
    common (noun) den dens
    neuter (noun) det dets
    indefinite man en ens
    reflexive – sig sin sit sine
    Plural First modern vi os vores
    archaic / formal vor vort vore
    Second – I jer jeres
    Third – de dem deres
    reflexive – sig

    Finnish

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    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): /ˈsit/, [ˈs̠it̪]
    • Rhymes: -it
    • Syllabification(key): sit
    • Hyphenation(key): sit

    Adverb

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    sit

    1. (colloquial or dialectal) Alternative form of sitten

    Gothic

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    Romanization

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    sit

    1. Romanization of 𐍃𐌹𐍄

    Ingrian

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    Pronunciation

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    Adverb

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    sit

    1. Alternative form of siit
      • 2008, “Läkkäämmä omal viisii [We're speaking [our] own way]”, in Inkeri‎[2], volume 4, number 69, St. Petersburg, page 12:
        Tämä on Savimäen kylä a sit ono veel Hammalan kylä.
        This is the Savimäki village and then there is also the Hammala village.

    References

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    • Olga I. Konkova, Nikita A. Dyachkov (2014) Inkeroin Keel: Пособие по Ижорскому Языку‎[3], →ISBN, page 35

    Karelian

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    Etymology

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    Related to Veps sid'.

    Adverb

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    sit

    1. here

    Latin

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    Pronunciation

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    Verb

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    sit

    1. third-person singular present active subjunctive of sum
      • 4th century, St Jerome, Vulgate, Tobit 3:23
        Sit nomen tuum Deus Israhel benedictum in saecula. (Be thy name, O God of Israel, blessed for ever.)

    References

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    Latvian

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    Verb

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    sit

    1. inflection of sist:
      1. second/third-person singular present indicative
      2. third-person plural present indicative
      3. second-person singular imperative
    2. (with the particle lai) third-person singular imperative of sist
    3. (with the particle lai) third-person plural imperative of sist

    Livvi

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    Etymology

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    Compare the colloquial and dialectal Finnish "sit" (the standard form of which is sitten).

    Adverb

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    sit

    1. then
    2. when

    References

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    • Pertti Virtaranta, Raija Koponen (2009) “sit”, in Marja Torikka, editor, Karjalan kielen sanakirja‎[4], Helsinki: Kotus, →ISSN

    Anagrams

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    Middle High German

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    Pronunciation

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    • IPA(key): (before 13th CE) /ˈs̠iːt/

    Verb

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    sīt

    1. second-person plural present imperative of sīn / wësen

    Northern Ohlone

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    Etymology

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    Compare Southern Ohlone sit (“tooth”).

    Noun

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    sit

    1. (plural only) teeth, set of teeth
    2. (with himmen) a tooth

    References

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    • María de los Angeles Colós, José Guzman, and John Peabody Harrington (1930s) Chochenyo Field Notes (Survey of California and Other Indian Langauges)‎[5], Unpublished

    Norwegian Nynorsk

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    Verb

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    sit

    1. present of sitja and sitta
    2. imperative of sitja

    Old English

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    Pronunciation

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    Verb

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    sit

    1. third-person singular present indicative of sittan

    Old Norse

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    Verb

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    sit

    1. inflection of sitja:
      1. first-person singular present active indicative
      2. second-person singular present active imperative

    Polish

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    Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
    Wikipedia pl
     
    sit

    Pronunciation

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    Etymology 1

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    Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sitъ.

    Noun

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    sit m inan

    1. any rush of the genus Juncus
    Declension
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    Declension of sit
    singular plural
    nominative sit sity
    genitive situ sitów
    dative sitowi sitom
    accusative sit sity
    instrumental sitem sitami
    locative sicie sitach
    vocative sicie sity

    Etymology 2

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    See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

    Noun

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    sit n

    1. genitive plural of sito

    Further reading

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    • sit in Polish dictionaries at PWN
    • sit in PWN's encyclopedia

    Romanian

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from French site or English site.

    Noun

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    sit n (plural situri)

    1. picturesque landscape
    2. site of a city
    3. archeological site
    4. (Internet) website
      Synonym: site

    Declension

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    Declension of sit
    singular plural
    indefinite definite indefinite definite
    nominative-accusative sit situl situri siturile
    genitive-dative sit sitului situri siturilor
    vocative situle siturilor

    Serbo-Croatian

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    Etymology 1

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    Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sytъ, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *sā́ˀtas, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂-.

    Pronunciation

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    Adjective

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

    1. sated, full
      Antonyms: gladan, lačan
    Declension
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    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)

    Further reading

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    • “sit”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

    Etymology 2

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    Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sitъ.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    sȋt m (Cyrillic spelling си̑т)

    1. rush (genus Juncus)

    Further reading

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    • “sit”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

    Slovene

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    Etymology 1

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    From Proto-Slavic *sytъ.

    Pronunciation

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    Adjective

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    sȉt (comparative bȍlj sȉt, superlative nȁjbolj sȉt)

    1. sated, full

    Etymology 2

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    From Proto-Slavic *sitъ.

    Alternative forms

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    Noun

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    sȋt m inan

    1. rush (genus Juncus)

    Further reading

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    • “sit”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

    Southern Ohlone

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    Noun

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    sit

    1. tooth

    Tok Pisin

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    Etymology

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    From English shit.

    Noun

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    sit

    1. (vulgar) faeces, shit.

    Derived terms

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    Veps

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    Etymology

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    From Proto-Finnic *sitta, from Proto-Uralic *sitta. Cognates include Finnish sitta.

    Noun

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    sit

    1. shit
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