*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of sit

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sed- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *sédyeti Proto-Germanic *sitjaną Proto-West Germanic *sittjan Old English sittan Middle English sitten English sit From Middle Engli

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

An act of sitting. · Subsidence of the roof of a coal mine. · An event, usually lasting one full day or more, where the primary goal is to sit in meditation.

verb

To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks. · To move oneself into such a position. · To occupy a given position. · To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sed- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *sédyeti Proto-Germanic *sitjaną Proto-West Germanic *sittjan Old English sittan Middle English sitten English sit From Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, from Proto-West Germanic *sittjan, from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“sit”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian sitte, Low German sitten, Dutch zitten, German sitzen, Swedish sitta, Norwegian Bokmål sitte, Norwegian Nynorsk sitja, Danish sidde, Faroese sita, Icelandic sitja; and with Irish suigh, Latin sedeo, Russian сиде́ть (sidétʹ).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 13 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:sitten<id:to sit>",
        "id": "to sit",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *sed-\nProto-Indo-European *-yeti\nProto-Indo-European *sédyeti\nProto-Germanic *sitjaną\nProto-West Germanic *sittjan\nOld English sittan\nMiddle English sitten\nEnglish sit\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*sitjaną\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*sittjan\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"sittan\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"sitten\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"sit\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"to sit\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"sit\" id=\"English:_to_sit\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*sed-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "sitten"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English sitten"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "sittan"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English sittan"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*sittjan"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *sittjan"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*sitjaną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *sitjaną"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*sed-",
        "4": "",
        "5": "sit"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“sit”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cog"
      },
      "expansion": "Cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "sitte"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian sitte"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds",
        "2": "sitten"
      },
      "expansion": "Low German sitten"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "zitten"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch zitten"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "sitzen"
      },
      "expansion": "German sitzen"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "sitta"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish sitta"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nb",
        "2": "sitte"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål sitte"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nn",
        "2": "sitja"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk sitja"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "sidde"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish sidde"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo",
        "2": "sita"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese sita"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "sitja"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic sitja"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ga",
        "2": "suigh"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish suigh"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "sedeo"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin sedeo"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ru",
        "2": "сиде́ть"
      },
      "expansion": "Russian сиде́ть (sidétʹ)"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:sitten<id:to sit>",
        "id": "to sit",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *sed-\nProto-Indo-European *-yeti\nProto-Indo-European *sédyeti\nProto-Germanic *sitjaną\nProto-West Germanic *sittjan\nOld English sittan\nMiddle English sitten\nEnglish sit"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*sed-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/sed-"
    ],
    [
      "*-yeti",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-yeti"
    ],
    [
      "*sédyeti",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/sédyeti#Proto-Indo-European:_to_be_sitting"
    ],
    [
      "*sitjaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/sitjaną#Proto-Germanic:_to_sit"
    ],
    [
      "*sittjan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/sittjan#Proto-West_Germanic:_to_sit"
    ],
    [
      "sittan",
      "sittan#Old_English:_to_sit"
    ],
    [
      "sitten",
      "sitten#Middle_English:_to_sit"
    ],
    [
      "sitten",
      "sitten#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "sittan",
      "sittan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*sittjan",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/sittjan"
    ],
    [
      "*sitjaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/sitjaną"
    ],
    [
      "*sed-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/sed-"
    ],
    [
      "sitte",
      "sitte#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "sitten",
      "sitten#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "zitten",
      "zitten#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "sitzen",
      "sitzen#German"
    ],
    [
      "sitta",
      "sitta#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "sitte",
      "sitte#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "sitja",
      "sitja#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "sidde",
      "sidde#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "sita",
      "sita#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "sitja",
      "sitja#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "suigh",
      "suigh#Irish"
    ],
    [
      "sedeo",
      "sedeo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "сиде́ть",
      "сидеть#Russian"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "An act of sitting.",
        "Subsidence of the roof of a coal mine.",
        "An event, usually lasting one full day or more, where the primary goal is to sit in meditation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ],
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 34702
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks.",
        "To move oneself into such a position.",
        "To occupy a given position.",
        "To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "copulative",
        "intransitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "c70d9e873ed99e0b6cad280e09f96625b4dd465495462b8560d9569c8451748c",
      "rawRecordSha256": "0bf9512d35bb564913ba425bf13ad9858bf4dcdb4e385e3e27e0246e2a4913d9",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 34701
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  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 13,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for sit →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-c2l0