Word: sit Part of Speech: verb Etymology: 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, Danish sidde, Faroese sita, Icelandic sitja; and with Irish suigh, Latin sedeo, Russian сиде́ть (sidétʹ). Pronunciation: /sɪt/ 1. To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks. Labels: copulative, intransitive Example: After a long day of walking, it was good just to sit and relax. Example: You're finishing the chowder if you sit there (motionless) all evening! 2. To move oneself into such a position. Labels: intransitive Example: I asked him to sit. 3. To occupy a given position. Labels: intransitive Example: The dishes are still sitting on the table! Example: The temple has sat atop that hill for centuries. 4. To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition. Labels: copulative, intransitive Example: And Moses said to […] the children of Reuben, Shall your brothren go to war, and shall ye sit here? Example: Like a demigod here sit I in the sky. 5. To be a member of a deliberative body. Example: I currently sit on a standards committee. 6. Of a legislative or, especially, a judicial body such as a court, to be in session. Example: In what city is the circuit court sitting for this session? 7. To lie, rest, or bear; to press or weigh. Example: The calamity sits heavy on us. 8. To be adjusted; to fit. Example: Your new coat sits well. Example: This new and gorgeous garment, majesty, / Sits not so easy on me as you think. 9. To be accepted or acceptable; to work. Labels: intransitive Example: How will this new contract sit with the workers? Example: I don’t think it will sit well. 10. To cause to be seated or in a sitting posture; to furnish a seat to. Labels: causative, transitive Example: Sit him in front of the TV and he might watch for hours. 11. To accommodate in seats; to seat. Labels: transitive Example: The dining room table sits eight comfortably. Example: I sat me weary on a pillar's base, / And leaned against the shaft 12. To babysit. Labels: US, ambitransitive Example: I'm going to sit for them on Thursday. Example: I need to find someone to sit my kids on Friday evening for four hours. 13. To take, to undergo or complete (an examination or test). Labels: Australia, New-Zealand, UK, transitive 14. To cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl; to brood; to incubate. Example: The partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not. 15. To take a position for the purpose of having some artistic representation of oneself made, such as a picture or a bust. Example: I'm sitting for a painter this evening. 16. To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position; to have direction. Example: like a good miller that knows how to grind, which way soever the wind sits Example: Sits the wind in that quarter? 17. To keep one's seat when faced with (a blow, attack); to endure, to put up with. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: 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.