English
hit
Hit comes from Middle English hitten ‘to hit, strike’, from Old English hittan ‘to meet with, come upon’, from Old Norse hitta ‘to strike, meet’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hittijaną ‘to come upon, find’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-‘to fall; fall upon; hit’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂id-néh₂-tireconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hittijaną‘to come upon, find’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350hitta‘to strike, meet’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hittan‘to meet with, come upon’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hitten‘to hit’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592hit
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-‘to fall; fall upon; hit’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂id-néh₂-tireconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hittijaną‘to come upon, find’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350hitta‘to strike, meet’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hittan‘to meet with, come upon’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hitten‘to hit’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592hit
Earliest quotation: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “Thou hast hit it.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- ‘to fall’
decision, precise, cement, concise, circumcision, incision, scissor, incisive, excision, chisel, incisor, caesium, 29 more
Another origin of hit
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱe-‘this, here’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hit‘this, this one’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150hit‘it’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hit‘it’
- Englishtodayhit
Today it means
verb To administer a blow to, directly or with a weapon or missile.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.