fit

• IPA^(key): /fɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

Possibly from Middle English fit (“an adversary of equal power”).

fit (comparative fitter, superlative fittest)

1. Suitable; proper.

   You have nothing to say about it. I'll do exactly as I see fit.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 34:18:

     Is it fit to say a king, Thou art wicked?

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

     He had drunk more than was fit for him, and he was singing some light song, when he saw approaching, as he said, the pale horse mentioned in the Revelation, with Death seated as the rider.

   • 2005, Lesley Brown, Sophist, translation of original by Plato, 243d:

     The rest we'll leave to be examined later, if we think fit;

   • 2015 February 1, Howard Tayler, Schlock Mercenary‎^[1], archived from the original on 14 May 2024:

     Sergeant Schlock has no horse, no armor, and no sword, but even the mightiest Mongol horse-warrior would see in him a fit heir.

2. Adapted to a purpose or environment.

   survival of the fittest

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:

     That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in.

3. In good shape; physically well.

   You don't have to be a good climber for Kilimanjaro, but you do have to be fit.

4. (British, informal, chiefly slang) Sexually attractive; good-looking; fanciable.

   I think the girl working in the office is fit.

   • 2004, Mike Skinner (lyrics and music), “Fit but You Know It”, in A Grand Don't Come for Free, performed by The Streets:

     I think you are really fit / You're fit but my gosh don't you know it.

   • 2007, “Foundations”, in Kate Nash, Paul Eppworth (lyrics), Made of Bricks, performed by Kate Nash:

     I said I'd rather be with your friends, mate, cos they are much fitter.

5. Prepared; ready.
   • 1600, [Torquato Tasso], “(please specify |book=1 to 20)”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC:

     So fit to shoot, she singled forth among her foes who first her quarry's strength should feel.

fit (third-person singular simple present fits, present participle fitting, simple past and past participle fitted or fit)

1. (transitive) To be suitable for.

   It fits the purpose.

   • 1918, Richard Dennis Teall Hollister, Speech-making, publ. George Wahr, pg. 81:

     The speaker should be certain that his subject fits the occasion.

2. (intransitive) To have sufficient space available at some location to be able to be there.

   Ten clowns fit in the car, but not a hundred.

   The elevator can fit up to 10 people.

3. (transitive) To conform to in size and shape.

   The small shirt doesn't fit me, so I'll buy the medium size.

   If I lose a few kilos, the gorgeous wedding dress might fit me.

4. (intransitive) To be of the right size and shape
   • 2001, “Schism”, in Maynard James Keenan (lyrics), Adam Jones, Danny Carey, Maynard James Keenan, and Justin Chancellor (music), Lateralus, performed by Tool, track 5:

     I know the pieces fit / 'Cause I watched them fall away

   • 2016 February 2, Kate Winslet et al., Jimmy Kimmel Live!‎^[2]:

     Even though in a way you let him freeze to death in the water, because the way I see it...
     I agree. Y'know, I think he actually could have fitted on that bit of door.
     There was plenty of room on the raft.
     I know. I know, I know.

   I wanted to borrow my little sister's jeans, but they didn't fit.

   That plug fit into the other socket, but it won't go in this one.

5. (transitive, with to) To make conform in size and shape.

   I want to fit the drapes to the windows.

   1. (transitive) To tailor; to change to the appropriate size.

      I had a suit fitted by the tailor.

6. (transitive) To be in agreement with.

   These definitions fit most of the usage.

   • 2004 October 14, Don Ringe, “Old English maþelian, mæþlan, mǣlan”, in J. H. W. Penney, editor, Indo-European Perspectives: Studies in Honour of Anna Morpurgo Davies‎^[3], Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 427:

     Type D half-lines ending in words of this type are analysed by Hutcheson as ending in two completely unstressed syllables. That analysis must be descriptively correct for, say, the 10th cent.; whether it would have fitted the facts in the 8th cent. is much less clear.

7. (transitive) To adjust.

   The regression program fit a line to the data.

8. (transitive) To attach, especially when requiring exact positioning or sizing.
   • 2012 May 13, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, in BBC Sport‎^[4]:

     Williams had a problem fitting his left rear tyre and that left Alonso only 3.1secs adrift when he rejoined from his final stop three laps later.

9. (transitive) To equip or supply.

   The chandler will fit us with provisions for a month.

10. (transitive) To make ready.

    I'm fitting the ship for a summer sail home.

    • 1871, Florence Nightingale, Una and the Lion, page 12:

      Thirty years ago, if a girl wished for training, there was none to be had. I can truly say there was no training to be had to fit a woman thoroughly for any life whatever.

11. (intransitive, archaic) To be seemly.
12. To be proper or becoming.
    • 1725, Homer, “Book III”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:

      Nor fits it to prolong the heav'nly feast.

13. (intransitive) To be in harmony.

    The paint, the fabrics, the rugs all fit.

• In senses 1 to 6, this is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous inflection. See Category:English stative verbs

fit (plural fits)

1. The degree to which something fits.

   This shirt is a bad fit.

   Since he put on weight, his jeans have been a tight fit.

2. Conformity of elements one to another.

   It's hard to get a good fit using second-hand parts.

3. The part of an object upon which anything fits tightly.
4. (advertising) Measure of how well a particular commercial execution captures the character or values of a brand.

   The Wonder Bread advertising research results showed the “White Picket Fence” commercial had strong fit ratings.

5. (statistics) Goodness of fit.
6. (bridge) The quality of a partnership's combined holding of cards in a suit, particularly of trump.

   During the auction, it is often a partnership's goal to find an eight-card major suit fit.

Usually used in the singular preceded by an indefinite article and an adjective.

• (advertising): The Advertising Research Handbook Charles E. Young, Ideas in Flight, Seattle, Washington, April 2005

Unknown, possibly from Old English fitt (“song”), or from the sense of fitted to length. Compare Old Saxon *fittea (attested in the borrowed Latin vittea).

fit (plural fits)

1. (archaic) A section of a poem or ballad.
   • 1771, Samuel Johnson, "Letter to Bennet Langton, Esq. (March 20)," in James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), vol 2:

     Dr. Percy has written a long ballad in many fits.

• Oxford English Dictionary: fit, fyte n. 1

Unknown, possibly from Old English fitt (“conflict”). Compare Cornish fit (“game match, bout”); or else, probably cognate with Italian fitta (“pain, especially sudden and stabbing pain”). See more at Latin fīgere.

fit (plural fits)

1. A seizure or convulsion.

   My grandfather died after having a fit.

2. (medicine) A sudden and vigorous appearance of a symptom over a short period of time.
3. A sudden outburst of emotion.

   Synonyms: blowout, hissy, tantrum, spell, moment

   He had a laughing fit which lasted more than ten minutes.

   She had a fit and threw all of his clothes out through the window.

   He threw a fit when his car broke down.

4. A sudden burst (of an activity).

   Synonyms: flurry, frenzy, paroxysm

   • 2007 July 9, Ryan J. Foley, “Wisconsin city's largest employer threatens to leave over ethanol”, in Associated Press:

     A fit of spring-cleaning led Eric Brooks to a box of old newspaper clips from 1997.

fit (third-person singular simple present fits, present participle fitting, simple past and past participle fitted)

1. (intransitive, medicine) To suffer a fit.
   • 2016 May 18, “Three dogs die and seven more ill after drinking from the same Kent lake amid contamination fears”, in The Telegraph:

     A spokesman said: "It is believed they (the dogs) got into the lake and drank from it. They came out and started fitting. Shortly after that three of them died and vets are attempting to resuscitate the other one."

Formed from fight on the model of bite:bit and light:lit.

fit

2. (African-American Vernacular, Southern US, dated) simple past and past participle of fight; fought.
   • 1867 November, unknown author, The Galaxy, volume 4, New York: W.C. & F.P. Church, retrieved 2023-10-27, page 883:

     There wonst was two cats in Kilkenny;
     And aich thought there was one cat too many.
       So they quarrelled and fit;
       And they scratched, and they bit;
        Till, excepting their tails
        And some scraps of their nails,
     Instead of two cats there wan't any.

   • c. 19th century, unknown author, Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho

     Joshua fit the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down

   • a. 1940, Mildred Haun, “Shin-Bone Rocks”, in The Hawk's Done Gone, page 218:

     He didn't just set around and try to out sweettalk^[sic] somebody; he got out and out-fit somebody. He wouldn't be blowing when he told his boys how he fit for the woman he got.

Clipping of outfit

fit (plural fits)

1. (slang) An outfit, a set of clothing.

   How do you like the fit?

• fit-fit

• ITF, IFT, TIF, if't, tif, TFI

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

fit m (plural fite, definite fiti)

1. wedge

   Synonym: pykë

2. (figurative) provocation

   Synonyms: spica, kalla

Back-formation from fitoj (“to profit”).^[1]

fit m (definite fiti)

1. (archaic) profit, gain

   Synonym: fitim

fit (colloquial)

1. even, quits

   Synonyms: barabar, pat

• “fit”, in FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[5] (in Albanian), 1980, page 477

Onomatopoeic.

• IPA^(key): [fit]

• Audio (Baku):

  (file)

fit (definite accusative fiti, plural fitlər)

1. whistle
2. siren (a device that makes a piercingly loud sound as an alarm or signal, or the sound from such a device)

• fit çalmaq (“to whistle”)

Inherited from Latin fīctus, archaic past participle of fīgō (“to fasten, fix”). Doublet of fix and fixed.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfit]
• Rhymes: -it

fit (feminine fita, masculine plural fits, feminine plural fites)

1. fixed, steady (of eyes, regard, etc.)

• de fit a fit
• fitar

• fita
• fitó

fit m (plural fits)

1. target

   Synonym: fitó

• “fit” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Borrowed from English fit.

fit

1. (Cantonese) fit (physically well; in good shape)

• 弗 (fit¹)

Irregular romanisation of 法 (fit¹).

fit

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) Used in 符fit.

Irregular romanisation of 弗 (fit¹).

fit

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) Used in 揸fit and 花fit.

• 𢝵, 𢞵 (fit¹)

Onomatopoeic.

fit

1. (Cantonese) to whip

• 𢝵, 𢞵 (fit¹)

Clipping of English fitting room.

fit

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) fitting room

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɪt]

fit (indeclinable)

1. fit, healthy

• “fit”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “fit”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

• Rhymes: -ɪt

• Audio:

  (file)

fit (comparative fitter, superlative fitst)

1. fit (in good shape)

• Audio:

  (file)

fit

1. third-person singular past historic of faire

Unadapted borrowing from English fit.

• IPA^(key): /fɪt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

fit (strong nominative masculine singular fitter, comparative fitter, superlative am fittesten)

1. fit (in good physical condition)

• Fitmacher
• Fitness (rarely Fitheit)

 

 

• IPA^(key): /fɪːt/
• Rhymes: -ɪːt

fit f (genitive singular fitjar, nominative plural fitjar)

1. (zoology) web, interdigital webbing, a membrane that connects the digits of an animal
2. (knitting) a casting on, casting on

• breiðafit
• fitja
• fuglafit
• fuglsfit
• gullfit
• hundafit
• lykkjufit
• Halldórufit
• silfurfit
• skollafit
• sundfit

• A deliberation on the word "fit" on the Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum ("Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies")

fit

1. third-person singular present passive indicative of faciō
2. third-person singular present active indicative of fīō

From English fit, probably through German fit.

• IPA^(key): /fit/
• Rhymes: -it

fit (masculine fitten, neuter fit, comparative méi fit, superlative am fitsten)

1. fit (in good shape)

From English fit.

fit

1. to be able to, can

   I no fit talk. ― I can not talk.

From Old Norse fit.

fit f (definite singular fita or fiti, indefinite plural fitjar or fiter, definite plural fitjane or fitene)

1. (pre-2012) alternative form of fet

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

fit f (genitive fitjar, plural fitjar)

1. (zoology, anatomy) webbed foot (of swimming birds)
2. (zoology, anatomy) flippers (of a seal)
3. (landform) meadowland on the banks of a lake or river

• “fit”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

• IPA^(key): /ˈfit/
• Rhymes: -it
• Syllabification: fit
• Homophones: Fit, -fit

Unadapted borrowing from English fit.

fit (not comparable, no derived adverb)

1. (slang) fit (in good shape; physically well)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

fit m animal

1. horse that is well prepared for a race

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

fit m inan

1. (bridge) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

fit f

1. genitive plural of fita

• fit in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• fit at Obserwatorium językowe Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

Inherited from Northern Middle English fut, from Old English fōt, from Proto-West Germanic *fōt, from Proto-Germanic *fōts, from Proto-Indo-European *pṓds.

• fuit, fut, fute

fit (plural fits)

1. foot
2. lower end (of a street, river, field etc)

• fitbaw

fit (third-person singular simple present fits, present participle fitin, simple past fitt, past participle fitt)

1. to foot

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

fit

1. Doric Scots form of what

fit m or f (masculine and feminine plural fits) or fit (invariable)

1. fit (in good shape)

• IPA^(key): [fit]

fit (nominative plural fits)

1. (male or female) fish (cold-blooded vertebrate)