zit

See also: zīt, žit, žiť, žít, zıt, and Zit

English

Etymology

Uncertain origin, first attested as 1960s North American English slang. Compare English chit (“pimple, wart”), German Zitze (“teat, nipple”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

Noun

zit (plural zits)

1. (Canada, US, slang) pimple
   • 1968, J. Lawrence Hagen, "Pinball 1959", Generation volume 20–21, page 182:

     I can't help thinking how little good all that working out did him. I think the only thing he ever got out of it was more zits.

   • 1987 Adventures in Babysitting, 00:06:35:

     Brad: Sara, did you take my Clearasil again? Sara: I ran out of brown (paint). Brad: Great. How am I supposed to cover up my zits?

Synonyms

• acker, akker (Archaic Australian slang)

Derived terms

• zitso
• zitty

Translations

pimple

• Bulgarian: пъпка (bg) f (pǎpka), петно по кожата n (petno po kožata)
• Esperanto: akno, aknero
• Finnish: näppylä, finni (fi)
• German: Pickel (de) m, Pustel (de) f
• Greek: μπιμπίκι (el) (bimpíki)
• Hungarian: pattanás (hu), ragya (hu)
• Latvian: pumpa
• Portuguese: espinha (pt) f
• Russian: пры́щ (ru) m (prýšč)

See also

• acne
• blackhead
• pimple
• spot

Anagrams

• tiz

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /zɪt/
• Hyphenation: zit
• Rhymes: -ɪt

Etymology 1

From zitten.

Noun

zit m (plural zitten, diminutive zitje n)

1. the act of sitting
2. (Belgium, by extension) an exam term at university or an institution of intermediate tertiary education
3. seat
4. (by extension) a seat in a legislative or regulatory group (e.g. in a parliament or a board)
5. (Suriname, always in the diminutive) a small social gathering at someone's home
   • 2021 March 16, Nita Ramcharan, “Column: Vicepresident, niet te laat voor 'sorry' [Column: Vice President, it's not too late to say sorry]”, in StarNieuws‎^[1], retrieved 2 March 2022:

     De belletjes bij minister Amar Ramadhin hadden al moeten rinkelen toen vicepresident (vp) Ronnie Brunswijk liet doorschemeren dat hij een 'zitje' wilde houden met zijn naasten, onder wie zijn kinderen. De minister had niet verwacht dat het om een feest ging met alles erop en eraan, terwijl alle voorbereidingen van het feest te volgen waren op social media.

     Minister Amar Ramadhin's alarm bells should have gone off immediately when Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk hinted that he wanted to have a 'small gathering' with his loved ones, including his children. The Minister had not expected that it would be a full-blown party, while all the party preparations could be followed on social media.

Synonyms

• (the act of sitting): zitting
• (exam term): zittijd
• (seat): zetel, zeet
• (seat in a group): zetel, zitje

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

zit

1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of zitten
2. imperative of zitten

Middle High German

Etymology

From Old High German zīt, from Proto-Germanic *tīdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *dīti- (“time, period”), from *dī- (“time”).

Noun

zīt f

1. time

Descendants

• Alemannic German: Ziit, Zit, Zyt
• Bavarian:

  Cimbrian: zait

  Mòcheno: zait

• Central Franconian: Zeck, Zick; Ziet; Zeit
• East Central German:

  Vilamovian: cajt

• East Franconian:
• German: Zeit
• Hunsrik: Zeid
• Luxembourgish: Zäit
• Pennsylvania German: Zeit
• Yiddish: צײַט‎ (tsayt)

Paipai

Noun

zit

1. day

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, from Proto-West Germanic *sittjan.

Verb

zit

1. to sit
   • 1927, “ZONG O DHREE YOLA MYTHENS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, line 6:

     But zit ad hime wi vlaxen wheel,

     But sit at home with flaxen wheel,

References

• Kathleen A. Browne (1927) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol.17 No.2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 131