English
sit
Sit comes from Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sed- ‘to sit’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-‘to sit’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sitjaną‘to sit’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sittjan‘to sit’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sittan‘to sit’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sitten‘to sit’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596sit
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sed-‘to sit’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sitjaną‘to sit’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sittjan‘to sit’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sittan‘to sit’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sitten‘to sit’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596sit
Earliest quotation: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, Loues Labour’s Lost: “Like a demigod here sit I in the sky.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sed-
set, president, sell, seat, method, chair, size, session, settle, resident, assess, nest, possess, niche, saddle, exodus, sedan, siege, sediment, reside, nye, subsidy, residual, residue, sedentary, beset, prasad, cathode, soot, insidious, sedative, setter, obsess, dissident, anode, sedate, chaise, seance, ersatz, presidio, 94 more
through Proto-Germanic *sitjaną ‘to sit’
through Old English sittan ‘to sit’
Today it means
verb To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sed- / sit