English
bit
Bit comes from Middle English bitte.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bitte
- Englishearliest quotation 1789bit
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bitte
- Englishearliest quotation 1789bit
Earliest quotation: 1789, Olaudah Equiano: “I trusted to the Lord to be with me;…”
A compound of bita ‘bit’ + bite ‘a bite’
Proto-Germanic *bitô
Old English bita ‘bit’
Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- ‘to split’
Proto-West Germanic *biti ‘bite’
Old English bite ‘a bite’
Every English word from Middle English bitte
Today it means
noun A small amount of something.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English bitte / bit