fit definition

English fit definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

Etymology 1

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

Adjective

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 964384981, 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;

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 606515358, [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. (Britain, 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, Kate Nash, Paul Eppworth (lyrics), “Foundations”, in 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 940138160:

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

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

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. (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.

3. (intransitive) To be of the right size and shape
   • 2016 February 2, Kate Winslet & al., Jimmy Kimmel Live!

     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.

4. (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.

5. (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^[1], 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.

6. (transitive) To adjust.

   The regression program fit a line to the data.

7. (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^[2]:

     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.

8. (transitive) To equip or supply.

   The chandler will fit us with provisions for a month.

9. (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.

10. (intransitive, archaic) To be seemly.
11. To be proper or becoming.
    • 1725, Homer; [Alexander Pope], transl., “Book III”, in The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, OCLC 8736646:

      Nor fits it to prolong the heav'nly feast.

12. (intransitive) To be in harmony.

    The paint, the fabrics, the rugs all fit.

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

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

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

Translations

References

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

Etymology 2

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

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.

References

• Oxford English Dictionary: fit, fyte n. 1

Etymology 3

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

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

Translations

Verb

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

1. (intransitive, medicine) To suffer a fit.
   • 2016, 18 May, 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

Verb

fit

1. (African-American Vernacular, dated) Fought.
   • c. 19th century, unknown author, Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho

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

Anagrams

• ITF, TIF, if't

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Azerbaijani fit definition

Etymology

Of onomatopoetic origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fit]

• Audio (Baku)

  (file)

Noun

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

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

• fit çalmaq (“to whistle”)

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Catalan fit definition

Etymology

From Latin fictus, archaic past participle of fīgō (“I fasten, fix”). Doublet of fix and fixed.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈfit/
• Rhymes: -it

Adjective

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

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

Derived terms

• de fit a fit
• fitar

Related terms

• fita
• fitó

Noun

fit m (plural fits)

1. target

   Synonym: fitó

Further reading

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

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Chinese fit definition

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English fit.

Adjective

fit

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

Etymology 2

Alternative form of 法.

Noun

fit

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

Etymology 3

Alternative form of 弗.

Noun

fit

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

Etymology 4

Onomatopoeic.

Verb

fit

1. (Cantonese, onomatopoeia) To whip.

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Czech fit definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɪt]

Adjective

fit

1. fit, healthy

Usage notes

• This adjective is indeclinable.

Further reading

• fit in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• fit in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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Dutch fit definition

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪt

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

fit (comparative fitter, superlative fitst)

1. fit (in good shape)

Inflection

Inflection 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	—

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French fit definition

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

fit

1. third-person singular past historic of faire

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German fit definition

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English fit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɪt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

Adjective

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

1. fit (in good physical condition)

Declension

Derived terms

• Fitmacher
• Fitness (rarely Fitheit)

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Icelandic fit definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɪːt/
• Rhymes: -ɪːt

Noun

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

Related terms

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

Further reading

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

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Latin fit definition

Verb

fit

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

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Luxembourgish fit definition

Etymology

From English fit, probably through German fit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fit/
• Rhymes: -it

Adjective

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

1. fit (in good shape)

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Norwegian Nynorsk fit definition

Etymology

From Old Norse fit.

Noun

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

1. (pre-2012) alternative form of fet

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Old Norse fit definition

Noun

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

References

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

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Scots fit definition

Etymology 1

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

• fuit, fut, fute

Noun

fit (plural fits)

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

Related terms

• fitbaw

Verb

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

1. to foot

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronoun

fit

1. Doric form of what

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Volapük fit definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fit]

Noun

fit (nominative plural fits)

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

Declension

Derived terms

See also

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Spanish fit definition

Adjective

fit (plural fits) or fit (invariable)

1. fit (in good shape)