Etymograph

English

dit

Dit comes from Old English dyttan ‘to stop up, close’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *duttaz ‘wisp’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*duttaz‘wisp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*duttijaną‘to stop up, to block, to close’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*duttijan‘to stop up, to block, to close’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dyttan‘to stop up, close’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ditten
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1599dit

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*duttaz‘wisp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*duttijaną‘to stop up, to block, to close’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*duttijan‘to stop up, to block, to close’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150dyttan‘to stop up, close’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ditten
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1599dit

Earliest quotation: 1599, James VI and I: “that I would haue thought my sincere plainnesse in…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *duttaz ‘wisp’

dot, 1 more

Today it means

verb To stop up; block (an opening); close (compare Scots dit).

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *duttaz / dit

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