chit

chit · noun¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*kittīną“young animal, fawn, kid”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*kittīn
3. Old English · inherited from*ċytten
4. Middle English · inherited fromchitte“a young animal, cub, whelp”
5. English todaychit

From Middle English chitte (“a young animal, cub, whelp”), from Old English *ċytten, *ċietten, *ċitten, from Proto-West Germanic *kittīn, from Proto-Germanic *kittīną (“young animal, fawn, kid”). Cognate with Scots chit (“chit”), Low German kitte (“young animal”), German Kitz (“fawn, kid”). See also kid.

chit · noun, verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ǵī-
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*kīþą“sprout”
3. Old English · inherited fromċīþ“germ, seed, sprout, shoot”
4. Middle English · inherited from*chit
5. English todaychit

From Middle English *chit, *chitte, from Old English ċīþ (“germ, seed, sprout, shoot”), from Proto-Germanic *kīþą (“sprout”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵī-, *ǵey(H)- (“to divide, part, split open, sprout”). Cognate with Middle Dutch kiede (“sprout”), dialectal German Keid (“sprout”). Doublet of chive (etymology 2) and scion.

chit · noun³

1. Hindi · borrowed fromचिट्ठी“letter, note, written message”
2. English todaychit

From chitty, from Hindi चिट्ठी (ciṭṭhī, “letter, note, written message”). Doublet of cure.

chit · noun⁴

Perhaps from specialized technical use of Etymology 2, above, “a bud; an excrescence” (Hunter 1882).

chit · noun, interjection⁵

Euphemistic variation of shit.

Words from the same roots