zit

See also: zīt, žit, žiť, žít, zıt, and Zit

English

Etymology

Uncertain origin, first attested as 1960s North American English slang. Compare English chit (“pimple, wart”), German Zitze (“teat, nipple”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɪt/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

Noun

zit (plural zits)

1. (Canada, US, slang) Pimple
   • 1968, J. Lawrence Hagen, “Pinball 1959”, in Generation, volumes 20-21, page 182:

     I can't help thinking how little good all that working out did him. I think the only thing he ever got out of it was more zits.

   • 1987 Adventures in Babysitting, 00:06:35:

     Brad: Sara, did you take my Clearasil again? Sara: I ran out of brown (paint). Brad: Great. How am I supposed to cover up my zits?

Synonyms

• acker, akker (Archaic Australian slang)

Derived terms

• zitso
• zitty

Translations

pimple

Bulgarian: пъпка (bg) f (pǎpka), петно по кожата n (petno po kožata) Esperanto: akno, aknero Finnish: näppylä, finni (fi) German: Pickel (de) m, Pustel (de) f Greek: μπιμπίκι (el) (bimpíki) Hungarian: pattanás (hu), ragya (hu) Latvian: pumpa Portuguese: espinha (pt) f Russian: пры́щ (ru) m (prýšč) Spanish: granujo m, grano (es) m, barrito (es) m (Latin America), barrillo m, barro (es) m, comedón cerrado m, comedón blanco m

See also

• acne
• blackhead
• pimple
• spot

Anagrams

• tiz

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /zɪt/
• Hyphenation: zit
• Rhymes: -ɪt

Etymology 1

From zitten.

Noun

zit m (plural zitten, diminutive zitje n)

1. the act of sitting
2. (Belgium, by extension) an exam term at university or an institution of intermediate tertiary education
3. seat
4. (by extension) a seat in a legislative or regulatory group (e.g. in a parliament or a board)
5. (Suriname, always in the diminutive) a small social gathering at someone's home
   • 2021 March 16, Nita Ramcharan, “Column: Vicepresident, niet te laat voor 'sorry' [Column: Vice President, it's not too late to say sorry]”, in StarNieuws‎, retrieved 2 March 2022:

     De belletjes bij minister Amar Ramadhin hadden al moeten rinkelen toen vicepresident (vp) Ronnie Brunswijk liet doorschemeren dat hij een 'zitje' wilde houden met zijn naasten, onder wie zijn kinderen. De minister had niet verwacht dat het om een feest ging met alles erop en eraan, terwijl alle voorbereidingen van het feest te volgen waren op social media.

     Minister Amar Ramadhin's alarm bells should have gone off immediately when Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk hinted that he wanted to have a 'small gathering' with his loved ones, including his children. The Minister had not expected that it would be a full-blown party, while all the party preparations could be followed on social media.

Synonyms

• (the act of sitting): zitting
• (exam term): zittijd
• (seat): zetel, zeet
• (seat in a group): zetel, zitje

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

zit

1. inflection of zitten:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

Middle High German

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German zīt, from Proto-Germanic *tīdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *dīti- (“time, period”), from *dī- (“time”).

Noun

zît f

1. time

Declension

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	einiu	diu	zît	die	zîte
genitive	einer	dër	zîte, zît	dër	zîte
dative	einer	dër	zîte, zît	dën	zîten
accusative	eine	die	zît	die	zîte

Declension of zît (feminine, i-stem)

Descendants

• Alemannic German: Ziit, Zit, Zyt
• Bavarian:

  Cimbrian: zait

  Mòcheno: zait

• Central Franconian: Zeck, Zick (Kölsch), Ziet (western and northernmost Ripuarian), Zitt (Siegerland, otherwise scattered compromise form), Zeit (most of Moselle Franconian)
• East Central German:

  Vilamovian: cajt

• East Franconian:
• German: Zeit
• Hunsrik: Zeid
• Luxembourgish: Zäit
• Pennsylvania German: Zeit
• Yiddish: צײַט (tsayt)

References

• Benecke, Georg Friedrich, Müller, Wilhelm, Zarncke, Friedrich (1863) “zît”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke‎, Stuttgart: S. Hirzel

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *tīdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *dīti- (“time, period”), from *dī- (“time”).

Noun

zīt f

1. time

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Middle High German: zīt
  • Alemannic German: Ziit, Zit, Zyt
  • Bavarian:

    Cimbrian: zait

    Mòcheno: zait

  • Central Franconian: Zeck, Zick (Kölsch), Ziet (western and northernmost Ripuarian), Zitt (Siegerland, otherwise scattered compromise form), Zeit (most of Moselle Franconian)
  • East Central German:

    Vilamovian: cajt

  • East Franconian:
  • German: Zeit
  • Hunsrik: Zeid
  • Luxembourgish: Zäit
  • Pennsylvania German: Zeit
  • Yiddish: צײַט (tsayt)

Paipai

Noun

zit

1. day

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, from Proto-West Germanic *sittjan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zɪt/

Verb

zit (present participle zitheen)

1. to sit
   • 1927, “ZONG O DHREE YOLA MYTHENS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 131, line 6:

     But zit ad hime wi vlaxen wheel,

     But sit at home with flaxen wheel,

   • 1927, “ZONG O DHREE YOLA MYTHENS”, in THE ANCIENT DIALECT OF THE BARONIES OF FORTH AND BARGY, COUNTY WEXFORD, page 131, line 18:

     An thaar zit down an yux our vill,

     And there sit down and sob our fill,

References

• Kathleen A. Browne (1927) The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Sixth Series, Vol.17 No.2, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 131