Etymology 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).
Of a person To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks.
After a long day of walking, it was good just to sit and relax.
You're finishing the chowder if you sit there (motionless) all evening!
4 more examples
He is so fayre, withoutten les, / he semys full well to sytt on des.15th c., “[The Creation]”, in Wakefield Mystery Plays; Re-edited in George England, Alfred W. Pollard, editors, The Towneley Plays (Early English Text Society Extra Series; LXXI), London: […] Oxford University Press, 1897, →OCLC, page 5, lines 120–121:
This were as good as curds for our Jone, / When at a night we ſitten by the fire.1593, Michael Drayton, “The Eighth Eglog”, in Idea the Shepheards Garland, […], London: […] [T. Orwin] for Thomas Woodcocke, […], →OCLC, page 64:
So saying, she sate down at a little distance upon the bench on which Allan M‘Aulay was placed, and tuning her clairshach, a small harp, about thirty inches in height, she accompanied it with her voice.1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VI, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume III (A Legend of Montrose), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 274:
[…] and I am old enough to remember how often I have seen the beautiful Duchess of Devonshire, about eight in the morning (when I was at Bath in 91 or 92), returning from the parade, where she had sate up the live-long night with her sister, Lady Duncannon; it can therefore be no disgrace to appear as if you felt for your daughter.1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXV, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 24–25:
2
Of a person To move oneself into such a position.
I asked him to sit.
3
Of an object To occupy a given position.
The dishes are still sitting on the table!
The temple has sat atop that hill for centuries.
2 more examples
Jim's pet parrot sat on his left shoulder.
The Yellow Sea sits between the Korean Peninsula and China.2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
4
To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition.
And Moses said to […] the children of Reuben, Shall your brothren go to war, and shall ye sit here?1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 32:6:
Like a demigod here sit I in the sky.c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
Government, Law Of a legislative or, especially, a judicial body such as a court, to be in session.
In what city is the circuit court sitting for this session?
7
To lie, rest, or bear; to press or weigh.
The calamity sits heavy on us.1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC:
8
To be adjusted; to fit.
Your new coat sits well.
This new and gorgeous garment, majesty, / Sits not so easy on me as you think.c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
9
Of an agreement or arrangement To be accepted or acceptable; to work.
How will this new contract sit with the workers?
I don’t think it will sit well.
1 more example
The violence in these video games sits awkwardly with their stated aim of educating children.
10
Causative To cause to be seated or in a sitting posture; to furnish a seat to.
Sit him in front of the TV and he might watch for hours.
11
To accommodate in seats; to seat.
The dining room table sits eight comfortably.
I sat me weary on a pillar's base, / And leaned against the shaft1899, James Thomson, “The City of Dreadful Night”, in The City of Dreadful Night and Other Poems, page 43:
I need to find someone to sit my kids on Friday evening for four hours.
2 more examples
I saw […] Mrs. Turman, who sometimes sat Billy when Steff and I went out […]1980, Stephen King, The Mist, Viking Press:
Sitting was a “quintessentially American experience,” Yasemin Besen-Cassino, a Montclair State University sociologist and the author of The Cost of Being a Girl: Working Teens and the Origins of the Gender Wage Gap, told me.2024 March 19, Faith Hill, “Don’t Tell America the Babysitter’s Dead”, in The Atlantic:
To cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl; to brood; to incubate.
The partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 17:11:
15
To take a position for the purpose of having some artistic representation of oneself made, such as a picture or a bust.
I'm sitting for a painter this evening.
16
To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position; to have direction.
like a good miller that knows how to grind, which way soever the wind sits1689, John Selden, Table Talk:
Sits the wind in that quarter?1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
17
Obsolete To keep one's seat when faced with (a blow, attack); to endure, to put up with.
Louisa, who […] had but ill born the commencement of this conversation, could sit it no longer, and hastily throwing up the sash, complained of the intense heat of the room.1790, Amelia Opie, chapter 5, in Dangers of Coquetry, volume I:
Etymology 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).