fit

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See also: FIT, FiT, -fit, -fít, and fît

English

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /fɪt/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪt

Etymology 1

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

Adjective

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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
  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.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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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.
  13. (intransitive) To be in harmony.
    The paint, the fabrics, the rugs all fit.
Usage notes
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Derived terms
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Terms derived from fit (verb)
Translations
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Noun

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

Derived terms
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Translations
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References

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

Etymology 2

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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).

Noun

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fit (plural fits)

  1. (archaic) A section of a poem or ballad.

References

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  • Oxford English Dictionary: fit, fyte n. 1

Etymology 3

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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.

Noun

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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.
Derived terms
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Terms derived from fit (noun)
Translations
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Verb

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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."

Etymology 4

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

Verb

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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.

Etymology 5

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Clipping of outfit

Noun

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fit (plural fits)

  1. (slang) An outfit, a set of clothing.
    How do you like the fit?

See also

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Anagrams

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Albanian

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Etymology 1

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

Noun

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fit m (plural fite, definite fiti)

  1. wedge
    Synonym: pykë
  2. (figurative) provocation
    Synonyms: spica, kalla
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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

Noun

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fit m (definite fiti)

  1. (archaic) profit, gain
    Synonym: fitim

Adverb

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fit (colloquial)

  1. even, quits
    Synonyms: barabar, pat

References

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  1. ^ Meyer, G. (1891) “fitóń”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanesischen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language] (in German), Strasbourg: Karl J. Trübner, →DOI, page 106

Further reading

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

Azerbaijani

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Etymology

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Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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)

Declension

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    Declension of fit
singular plural
nominative fit
 fitlər
definite accusative fiti
 fitləri
dative fitə
 fitlərə
locative fitdə
 fitlərdə
ablative fitdən
 fitlərdən
definite genitive fitin
 fitlərin
    Possessive forms of fit
nominative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) fitim fitlərim
sənin (“your”) fitin fitlərin
onun (“his/her/its”) fiti fitləri
bizim (“our”) fitimiz fitlərimiz
sizin (“your”) fitiniz fitləriniz
onların (“their”) fiti or fitləri fitləri
accusative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) fitimi fitlərimi
sənin (“your”) fitini fitlərini
onun (“his/her/its”) fitini fitlərini
bizim (“our”) fitimizi fitlərimizi
sizin (“your”) fitinizi fitlərinizi
onların (“their”) fitini or fitlərini fitlərini
dative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) fitimə fitlərimə
sənin (“your”) fitinə fitlərinə
onun (“his/her/its”) fitinə fitlərinə
bizim (“our”) fitimizə fitlərimizə
sizin (“your”) fitinizə fitlərinizə
onların (“their”) fitinə or fitlərinə fitlərinə
locative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) fitimdə fitlərimdə
sənin (“your”) fitində fitlərində
onun (“his/her/its”) fitində fitlərində
bizim (“our”) fitimizdə fitlərimizdə
sizin (“your”) fitinizdə fitlərinizdə
onların (“their”) fitində or fitlərində fitlərində
ablative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) fitimdən fitlərimdən
sənin (“your”) fitindən fitlərindən
onun (“his/her/its”) fitindən fitlərindən
bizim (“our”) fitimizdən fitlərimizdən
sizin (“your”) fitinizdən fitlərinizdən
onların (“their”) fitindən or fitlərindən fitlərindən
genitive
singular plural
mənim (“my”) fitimin fitlərimin
sənin (“your”) fitinin fitlərinin
onun (“his/her/its”) fitinin fitlərinin
bizim (“our”) fitimizin fitlərimizin
sizin (“your”) fitinizin fitlərinizin
onların (“their”) fitinin or fitlərinin fitlərinin

Derived terms

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Catalan

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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

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

Derived terms

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Noun

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fit m (plural fits)

  1. target
    Synonym: fitó

Further reading

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Chinese

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Borrowed from English fit.

Adjective

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fit

  1. (Cantonese) fit (physically well; in good shape)
Alternative forms
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Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Irregular romanisation of 法 (fit1).

Noun

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fit

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

Etymology 3

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Irregular romanisation of 弗 (fit1).

Noun

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fit

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) Used in 揸fit and 花fit.
Alternative forms
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Etymology 4

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Onomatopoeic.

Verb

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fit

  1. (Cantonese) to whip
Alternative forms
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Etymology 5

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Clipping of English fitting room.

Noun

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fit

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) fitting room

Czech

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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fit (indeclinable)

  1. fit, healthy

Further reading

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

Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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fit (comparative fitter, superlative fitst)

  1. fit (in good shape)

Declension

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Declension of fit
uninflected fit
inflected fitte
comparative fitter
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial fit fitter het fitst
het fitste
indefinite m./f. sing. fitte fittere fitste
n. sing. fit fitter fitste
plural fitte fittere fitste
definite fitte fittere fitste
partitive fits fitters —

French

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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fit

  1. third-person singular past historic of faire

German

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English fit.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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

  1. fit (in good physical condition)

Declension

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Positive forms of fit
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist fit sie ist fit es ist fit sie sind fit
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative fitter fitte fittes fitte
genitive fitten fitter fitten fitter
dative fittem fitter fittem fitten
accusative fitten fitte fittes fitte
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der fitte die fitte das fitte die fitten
genitive des fitten der fitten des fitten der fitten
dative dem fitten der fitten dem fitten den fitten
accusative den fitten die fitte das fitte die fitten
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein fitter eine fitte ein fittes (keine) fitten
genitive eines fitten einer fitten eines fitten (keiner) fitten
dative einem fitten einer fitten einem fitten (keinen) fitten
accusative einen fitten eine fitte ein fittes (keine) fitten
Comparative forms of fit
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist fitter sie ist fitter es ist fitter sie sind fitter
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative fitterer fittere fitteres fittere
genitive fitteren fitterer fitteren fitterer
dative fitterem fitterer fitterem fitteren
accusative fitteren fittere fitteres fittere
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der fittere die fittere das fittere die fitteren
genitive des fitteren der fitteren des fitteren der fitteren
dative dem fitteren der fitteren dem fitteren den fitteren
accusative den fitteren die fittere das fittere die fitteren
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein fitterer eine fittere ein fitteres (keine) fitteren
genitive eines fitteren einer fitteren eines fitteren (keiner) fitteren
dative einem fitteren einer fitteren einem fitteren (keinen) fitteren
accusative einen fitteren eine fittere ein fitteres (keine) fitteren
Superlative forms of fit
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist am fittesten sie ist am fittesten es ist am fittesten sie sind am fittesten
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative fittester fitteste fittestes fitteste
genitive fittesten fittester fittesten fittester
dative fittestem fittester fittestem fittesten
accusative fittesten fitteste fittestes fitteste
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der fitteste die fitteste das fitteste die fittesten
genitive des fittesten der fittesten des fittesten der fittesten
dative dem fittesten der fittesten dem fittesten den fittesten
accusative den fittesten die fitteste das fitteste die fittesten
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein fittester eine fitteste ein fittestes (keine) fittesten
genitive eines fittesten einer fittesten eines fittesten (keiner) fittesten
dative einem fittesten einer fittesten einem fittesten (keinen) fittesten
accusative einen fittesten eine fitteste ein fittestes (keine) fittesten

Derived terms

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Icelandic

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An example of interdigital webbing on a frog.
A casting on.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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

Declension

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Declension of fit (feminine)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative fit fitin fitjar fitjarnar
accusative fit fitina fitjar fitjarnar
dative fit fitinni fitjum fitjunum
genitive fitjar fitjarinnar fitja fitjanna
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Further reading

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Latin

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Verb

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fit

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

Luxembourgish

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Etymology

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From English fit, probably through German fit.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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

  1. fit (in good shape)

Nigerian Pidgin

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Etymology

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From English fit.

Verb

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fit

  1. to be able to, can
    I no fit talk. ― I can not talk.

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From Old Norse fit.

Noun

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

  1. (pre-2012) alternative form of fet

Old Norse

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Etymology

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

Noun

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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

Declension

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  Declension of fit (strong jō-stem)
feminine singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative fit fitin fitjar fitjarnar
accusative fit fitina fitjar fitjarnar
dative fit fitinni fitjum fitjunum
genitive fitjar fitjarinnar fitja fitjanna

References

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

Polish

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Unadapted borrowing from English fit.

Adjective

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fit (not comparable, no derived adverb)

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

Etymology 2

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

Noun

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fit m animal

  1. horse that is well prepared for a race
Declension
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Declension of fit
singular plural
nominative fit fity
genitive fita fitów
dative fitowi fitom
accusative fita fity
instrumental fitem fitami
locative ficie fitach
vocative ficie fity

Etymology 3

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

Noun

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fit m inan

  1. (bridge) This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
Declension
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Declension of fit
singular plural
nominative fit fity
genitive fita/fitu fitów
dative fitowi fitom
accusative fit fity
instrumental fitem fitami
locative ficie fitach
vocative ficie fity

Etymology 4

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

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fit f

  1. genitive plural of fita

Further reading

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

Scots

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Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

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Noun

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fit (plural fits)

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

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

  1. to foot

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronoun

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fit

  1. Doric Scots form of what

Spanish

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Adjective

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

  1. fit (in good shape)

Volapük

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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fit (nominative plural fits)

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

Declension

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declension of fit
singular plural
nominative fit fits
genitive fita fitas
dative fite fites
accusative fiti fitis
vocative 1 o fit! o fits!
predicative 2 fitu fitus
  • 1 status as a case is disputed
  • 2 in later, non-classical Volapük only

Derived terms

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Terms derived from fit "fish"

See also

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See also
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