it - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Clipping of English Italian or Italian italiano.

it

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Italian.

From Middle English it, hit ( > dialectal English hit (“it”)), from Old English hit (“it”), from Proto-West Germanic *hit, from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“here; here”).

Cognates

Cognate with Yola it, t', yt (“it”), North Frisian at, et, 't (“it”), Saterland Frisian et (“it”), West Frisian it (“it”), Dutch het (“it”), Luxembourgish hatt (“her, it, she”), Elfdalian eð (“it”); also Primitive Irish ᚕᚑᚔ (koi, “here”), Latin cis (“short of; before”), hic (“this”), Greek εκείνος (ekeínos, “that; those”). Compare Cimbrian es, is, 's, 'z (“it”), German es, 's (“it, there”), Mòcheno and Vilamovian s (“it”), Yiddish עס (es, “it”), Faroese ið (“that, which, who”), Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰 (ita, “it”), which instead descends from Proto-Germanic *it (“it”). More at he.

it (subjective and objective **it, reflexive and intensive itself, possessive determiner and pronoun its or (obsolete) his, plural subjective they, plural objective case them)

  1. The third-person singular neuter personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object, abstract entity, or non-human living thing.
    Take this book and put it on the shelf.
    Take each day as it comes.
    I found a poor little cat. It seems to be half starving.
    • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
      It is not a pen. It is a book.
    • 2018 August 6, “Brief Introduction of Nansi”, in Nansi District Office, Tainan City‎[1], archived from the original on 16 February 2022:
      The Nansi District was formerly known as the "Jiaba Community", and was one of the early territories of the Taivoan, as well as where the Zou resided. Later, due to the invasion of the Siraya tribe, the community members later migrated out to regions such as Gongguan, Paoziliao (Kaohsiung County), and Daciouyuan. During the time of the Japanese occupation, because of its location at the west of the "Nanzihsian River", it was therefore renamed Nansi ("si" meaning "west"). A village and village hall were established here, under the governance of Sinhua District of Tainan Province. After the war in 1945, it was renamed Nansi Township, and was changed to Nansi District after the merging of Tainan City and County on December 25th, 2010.
  2. A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to a baby or child, especially of unknown gender.
    She took the baby and held it in her arms.
    • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, chapter IV, in Jane Eyre:
      A child cannot quarrel with its elders, as I had done; cannot give its furious feelings uncontrolled play, as I had given mine, without experiencing afterwards the pang of remorse and the chill of reaction.
    • 1859, Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White‎[2]:
      I could only encourage Mrs. Clements to speak next of Anne's early days […] "There was nobody else, sir, to take the little helpless creature in hand," replied Mrs. Clements. "The wicked mother seemed to hate it—as if the poor baby was in fault!—from the day it was born. My heart was heavy for the child, and I made the offer to bring it up as tenderly as if it was my own."
      "Did Anne remain entirely under your care from that time?"
      "Not quite entirely, sir. Mrs. Catherick had her whims and fancies about it at times, and used now and then to lay claim to the child, as if she wanted to spite me for bringing it up.
    • 2005, Marcus Zusak, The Book Thief, part 10:
      The sky was dripping. Like a tap that a child has tried its hardest to turn off but hasn't quite managed.
  3. (rare) A third-person singular pronoun used to refer to an unspecified person.
    • 1928, Virginia Woolf, Orlando, chapter 5:
      All these things inclined her, step by step, to submit to the new discovery, whether Queen Victoria's or another's, that each man and each woman has another allotted to it for life, whom it supports, by whom it is supported, till death them do part.
    • 1959, Agatha Christie, chapter 8, in Ordeal by Innocence:
      She had never seen that each human being was different, would react differently, had its own peculiar idiosyncrasies.
  4. (obsolete) An affectionate third-person singular personal pronoun.
    • 1890, George Manville Fenn, Black Blood:
      " […] It's my belief that you don't know your own mind."
      "I don't, dear," said Hulda, nestling to him.
      "Why, what a puss it is!" cried Sir Philip, kissing her tenderly.
    • 1897, Olive Pratt Rayner (Grant Allen), The Type-Writer Girl
      She caught my eye, and laughed. “What a funny girl it is!” she cried. “You are so comical! But it isn't the least use your trying to frighten me. I can see the twinkle in your big black eyes; and I like you in spite of your trying to be horrid. Do you know, I liked you from the first moment I saw you.”
    • 1905, The Harvard Monthly, volumes 39-40, page 183:
      WILLIAM: You don't like me better?
      CLARA: Indeed I do.
      WILLIAM (laughing): Well, what a dear girl it is.
      CLARA (flinging her arms around his neck with suddenly disclosed passion): Oh, I do love you!
  5. (chiefly derogatory, offensive) A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an animate referent who is transgender or non-binary.
    • 1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
      Next morning bought her [a drag queen] breakfast & she asked for a couple dollars to get a drink. Gave her $3, walked her to a bar. […] Some teenage boys watched us walking & began shouting. When I left her at the bar door & kissed her goodbye, they began shouting "Ugh! You kissed it!!"
    • 1993, Bruce Coville, Aliens Ate My Homework, pages 72–73:
      "Oh, don't be silly. I am neither male nor female. I'm a farfel." […] "It. Refer to me as an it."
      "That seems pretty rude," I said nervously.
      "Not as rude as calling me a he or a she," it said.
    • 2024 January 16, Matteo Garofalo, “Singular Purpose: Calculating the Degree of Ethno-Religious Over-representation in the USNo-Fly List”, in International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy:
      The individual known as Maia Arson Crimew was born as Tillie Kottmann on 7 August 1999 in Lucerne, Switzerland. Kottmann/Crimew has expressed on its website a desire to be referred to by ‘it’ pronouns (Crimew 2021), so this article will interchangeably refer to it by its preferred terms as either ‘Maia Arson Crimew’ or ‘it’.
      Crimew is a well-known figure among hacking and cybersecurity circles. It has either taken credit for or been attributed to hacks from several major multinational corporations, including […]
  6. Refers to someone being identified, often on the phone, but not limited to this situation.
    It's me, John.
    Somebody wanted a drink, didn't they? Who was it?
    It is I, your king.
  7. The impersonal pronoun, used without referent as the subject of an impersonal verb or statement (known as the dummy pronoun, dummy it or weather it).
    It is nearly 10 o’clock.
    It’s 10:45.
    It’s very cold today.
    It’s lonely without you.
    It seems so.
    It blew all night.
  8. The impersonal pronoun, used without referent, or with unstated but contextually implied referent, in various short idioms or expressions.
    rough it
    live it up
    stick it out
    1. Referring to a desirable quality or ability, or quality of being successful, fashionable or in vogue.
      After all these years, she still has it.
      • 2021, Seth Wickersham, It's Better to Be Feared: The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness, Liveright Publishing, →ISBN:
        Later that night, a friend told Brady, “Still got it.” “Never lost it,” he replied. THAT WAS MOSTLY TRUE. But the 2013 season ended with the Patriots coaches wondering whether Brady's skills were in a subtle but irrevocable decline […]
    2. Referring to sexual intercourse or other sexual activity.
      I caught them doing it.
      Are you getting it regularly?
      • 1968, Dear Doctor Hip Pocrates; advice your family doctor never gave you, page 5:
        Is man really the only animal who does "it" face to face?
      • 1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 10:
        The great advantage of English public school life lies of course in the quality of tutelage it provides. Adrian had received a decent and broad English education in the area of his loins. […] He had quickly happened upon the truth which many lonely contemporaries would never discover, the truth that everybody, simply everybody, was panting for it and could, with patience, be shown that they were panting for it. So Adrian grabbed what was to hand and had the time of his life genitally – focusing exclusively on his own gender of course, for this was 1973 and girls had not yet been invented.
  9. (uncountable) Sex appeal, especially that which goes beyond physical appearance.
    • 1904, Rudyard Kipling, Mrs Bathurst‎[3]:
      'Tisn't beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It's just It. Some women'll stay in a man's memory if they once walked down a street
    • 1927, Dorothy Parker, “Madame Glyn Lectures on 'It,' with Illustrations”, in The New Yorker, published 26 November 1927; republished in Brendan Gill, editor, The Portable Dorothy Parker, New York: Penguin, 1976, pages 464-468:
      And she had It. It, hell; she had Those.
  10. The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly, object; known as the dummy pronoun (according to some definitions), anticipatory it or, more formally in linguistics, a syntactic expletive. The delayed subject is commonly a _to_-infinitive, a gerund, or a noun clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction.
    It’s not worth talking to you.
    It is easy to see how she would think that.
    (with the infinitive clause headed by to see)
  1. All or the end; something after which there is no more.
    Are there more students in this class, or is this it?
    That's it—I'm not going to any more candy stores with you.
  2. (obsolete) Followed by an omitted and understood relative pronoun: That which; what.

subject — inanimate thing — see also that

object — see also that

subject of impersonal statement

it

  1. (obsolete) Its.

it (plural its)

  1. One who is neither a he nor a she; a creature; a dehumanized being.
    • 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, chapter 1, in Bulldog Drummond:
      His master glanced up quickly, and removed the letter from his hands. "I'm surprised at you, James," he remarked severely. "A secretary should control itself. Don't forget that the perfect secretary is an it: an automatic machine—a thing incapable of feeling.…"
    • 1995, Neil Weiner, Sharon E. Robinson Kurpius, Shattered innocence, page 8:
      Too often, children become an "it" in their homes and their humanness is devalued.
  2. The person who chases and tries to catch the other players in the playground game of tag.
    In the next game, Adam and Tom will be it…
    Tag, you're it!
    • 1896, Clifton Johnson, “Odds”, in What They Say in New England (non-fiction), Boston, Massachusetts, United States: Lee and Shepard Publishers, page 66:
      When you play hi-spy, and are “it,” and want to know where the others have hid, take a stick and put it up on end and let it fall. If it falls three times in the same direction, that shows you the way to go to find the hiders.
    • 2000, Katherine T. Thomas, Amelia M. Lee, Jerry R. Thomas, Physical education for children, page 464:
      When there are only two children left who haven't been tagged, I will stop the game, and we will start over with those children starting as the Its.
  3. (UK) A game of tag.
    Let's play it at breaktime.
  4. (informal) A desirable characteristic, as being fashionable.
    Man, he's really got it.
    She's the it girl, at least for this Fall.
  5. (informal, chiefly in the negative) Something desirable or suitable.
    Bro, that shirt is not it.
  6. (informal) Sexual intercourse.
    OMG, they were doing it in the storage room.
  7. (informal) Sex appeal.
    She really has it going on.
  8. Alternative letter-case form of It (“force in the vitalist approach of Georg Groddeck”).
    • 1988, Frederic D. Homer, The Interpretation of Illness, Purdue University Press, →ISBN, page 27:
      For Groddeck, the it is given, unknowable, and he does not try to conceptualize drives or forces. Early life and sexuality permeate […]
  9. Alternative letter-case form of It (“the id”).
    • 2015, Charis Charalampous, Rethinking the Mind-Body Relationship in Early Modern Literature, Philosophy, and Medicine: The Renaissance of the Body, Routledge, →ISBN, page 36:
      […] thus reversing the roles of the I and the it, the former now occupying the place of the latter and vice versa. An awareness of our bisubjective nature (it and me) requires thus an I as a third term that slides between […]

the game of tag — see tag

it (not comparable)

  1. (colloquial) Most fashionable, popular, or in vogue.
    • 2007 September, Vibe, volume 15, number 9, page 202:
      Going away for the weekend and feel the need to profile en route? This is the "it" bag.
    • 2021 October 4, Robert P, “Are Golden Goose Sneakers Worth It? My Honest Review Of Golden Goose Sneakers”, in Gold Talk Club‎[4], archived from the original on 15 July 2024:
      These Italian made sneakers quickly became an it shoe and the trend is not going anywhere any time soon!
    • 2025 May 31, Tanjil Rashid, “Finding their religion”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9:
      (Our culture's “it”-novelist, Sally Rooney, is instead tellingly God-obsessed.)
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (1995), Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar

From Proto-Turkic *ï̄t (“dog”).

it (definite accusative iti, plural itlər)

  1. dog

it

  1. fire

it

  1. name

From Proto-Turkic *it, *ït.

it

  1. dog

From dialectal Arabic إِيد (ʔīd), from يَد (yad).

it f (plural ten)

  1. hand
    Misek v-varka min tey u şalxa. ― He snatched the book out of my hands and threw it down.
    Teipsu texon! ― May their hands wither!
  2. handle

it (triggers lenition)

  1. (Munster) contraction of i (“in”) +‎ do (“your sg”)
    Buail it phóca é.
    Put it in your pocket.

Irish preposition contractions

| | contracted with | copular forms | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | base form | an (“the sg”) | na (“the pl”) | mo (“my”) | do (“your”) | a (“his, her, their; which (present)”) | ár (“our”) | ar (“which (past)”) | before a consonant | before a vowel | | present/future | past/conditional | | | | | | | | | | de (“from”) | den | de nadesna* | de modem* | de doded*, det* | dá | dár | dar | darb | darbh | | do (“to, for”) | don | do nadosna* | do modom* | do dodod*, dot* | dá | dár | dar | darb | darbh | | faoi (“under, about”) | faoin | faoi na | faoi mo | faoi do | faoina | faoinár | faoinar | faoinarb | faoinarbh | | i (“in”) | sa, san | sna | i moim* | i doid*, it* | ina | inár | inar | inarb | inarbh | | le (“with”) | leis an | leis na | le molem* | le doled*, let* | lena | lenár | lenar | lenarb | lenarbh | | ó (“from, since”) | ón | ó naósna* | ó moóm* | ó doód*, ót* | óna | ónár | ónar | ónarb | ónarbh | | trí (“through”) | tríd an | trí na | trí mo | trí do | trína | trínár | trínar | trínarb | trínarbh |

*dialectal

Derived from English it. Compare English hit, Gullah i, Antigua and Barbuda Creole English it, Guyanese Creole English ii, Hawaiian Creole it, Nigerian Pidgin it, Vincentian Creole English e, Yola yt, Old English ġit, Proto-Germanic *hit.

it

  1. Third-person singular neuter pronoun: it
  2. Third-person singular neuter accusative pronoun: it

Neutral form, contrasting with i in unstressed positions and hit in stressed position.[1]

Derived from English hit.

it

  1. (rare) to hit (Can we add an example for this sense? (Majstro.com shows it as a word for "hit" but I'm not sure))
    Synonym: lik

  2. ^ F. G. Cassidy, R. B. Le Page (2002), Dictionary of Jamaican English, 2nd edition, The University of the West Indies Press, →ISBN, page 233

From Proto-Turkic *ɨt.

it

  1. dog, hound

it

  1. third-person singular present active indicative of eō

it

  1. used to assign accentuation to expression
    it sevišķi ― especially
    it nekas ― nothing at all
    it nekur ― nowhere at all
    it nemaz ― not at all
    it kā ― as if

it

  1. alternative form of het

it

  1. alternative form of hit (“it”)

it

  1. alternative form of hit (“it”)

From Old Saxon it, from Proto-Germanic *hit.

it

  1. (third person singular neuter nominative) it
  2. (third person singular neuter accusative) it

Middle Low German personal pronouns

| | | nominative | accusative | dative | genitive | | | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | singular | 1st person | ik (ek) | mî (mê, mik, mek) | mîn (mîner) | | | 2nd person | dû | dî (dê, dik, dek) | dîn (dîner) | | | | 3rd person | m | hê (hî, hie) | ēne, en (ȫne, ȫn) | ēme, em (ȫme, en) | sîn (sîner) | | n | it (et) | | | | | | f | sê (sî, sie, sü̂) | ēre, ēr (ērer, ȫrer) | | | | | plural | 1st person | wî (wê, wie) | uns (ûs, ös, ü̂sik) | unser (ûser) | | | 2nd person | gî (jê, î) | jû (jûwe, û, jük, gik) | jûwer (ûwer) | | | | 3rd person | sê (sî, sie) | em, öm, jüm (en, ēnen, ȫnen) | ēre, ēr (ērer, ȫrer) | | |

For an explanation of the forms in brackets see here.

it

  1. second-person singular of y (“to”)

it

  1. second-person singular present of ii

it

  1. third-person singular present indicative of etan

it

  1. inflection of is:
    1. second-person singular present indicative
    2. third-person plural present indicative

From Proto-Germanic *jit, North-West Germanic form of *jut. Cognate with Old English ġit, Gothic 𐌾𐌿𐍄 (jut).

it

  1. (personal) second-person dual pronoun; you two

Old Norse personal pronouns

singular first person second person reflexive third person
masculine feminine neuter
nominative ek þú — hann hon, hón, hǫ́n þat
accusative mik þik sik hann hana, hána þat
dative mér þér sér hánum, hónum, hǫ́num henni því
genitive mín þín sín hans hennar þess
dual first person second person reflexive
nominative vit it, þit —
accusative okkr ykkr sik
dative okkr ykkr sér
genitive okkar ykkar sín
plural first person second person reflexive third person
masculine feminine neuter
nominative vér ér, þér — þeir þær þau
accusative oss yðr sik þá þær þau
dative oss yðr sér þeim þeim þeim
genitive vár yðar, yðvar sín þeira, þeirra þeira, þeirra þeira, þeirra

The Western descendants derive from þit, due to influence of the 2nd plural ending -ð. Compare þér (“you (plural)”).

  1. ^ Howe, Stephen (1996), “14. Old/Middle Swedish”, in The Personal Pronouns in the Germanic Languages: A Study of Personal Pronoun Morphology and Change in the Germanic Languages from the First Records to the Present Day, Walter de Gruyter

From Proto-Germanic *it.

it n

  1. it

Old Saxon personal pronouns

| | | nominative | accusative | dative | genitive | | | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | | singular | 1st person | ik | mī, me, mik | mī | mīn | | 2nd person | thū | thī, thik | thī | thīn | | | 3rdperson | m | hē | ina | imu | is | | f | siu | sia | iru | ira | | | n | it | it | is | | | | | | | | | | | dual | 1st person | wit | unk | unkero, unka | | | 2nd person | git | ink | inker, inka | | | | | | | | | | | plural | 1st person | wī, we | ūs, unsik | ūs | ūser | | 2nd person | gī, ge | eu, iu, iuu | euwar, iuwer, iuwar, iuwero, iuwera | | | | 3rdperson | m | sia | im | iro | | | f | sia | | | | | | n | siu | | | | |

it

  1. you (singular)

it

  1. not

bir it

From Ottoman Turkish ایت (it), from Proto-Turkic *ï̄t (“dog”). Compare Yakut ыт (ït, “dog”).

it (definite accusative iti, plural itler)

  1. (chiefly derogatory) dog
    Synonym: köpek
  2. (derogatory) scoundrel, detestable person, cur

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

it

  1. second-person singular imperative of itmek
Other scripts
Latin it‍
Cyrillic ит‍
Arabic ایت

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *ï̄t (“dog”).

it (definite accusative iti, plural itler)

  1. dog

The template Template:tk-decl-noun-auto does not use the parameter(s):

4=id

Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.

From Proto-Turkic *ï̄t (“dog”).

it (plural itlar)

  1. dog
A user suggests that this Uzbek entry be cleaned up, giving the reason: “manual inflection table should be moved to a template”.
Please see the discussion on Requests for cleanup(+) or the talk page for more information and remove this template after the problem has been dealt with.

it

  1. (with a personal pronoun) self; myself; yourself; himself; herself; itself; ourselves; themselves; emphasises the identity or singularity of the modified noun phrase
    • 1932, Arie de Jong, Leerboek der Wereldtaal, page 15:
      Ob it egivob ciles et magodis ot.
      I have given those children the same pictures myself.

From Middle Welsh it.

it

  1. (literary) second-person singular of i

From Old Frisian hit, from Proto-Germanic *hit.

it

  1. it (third-person singular neuter pronoun)

From Old Frisian thet, from Proto-Germanic *þat.

it

  1. neuter singular of de

From Middle English hit, from Old English hit.

it

  1. it
    • 1867, “GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY“, page 23:
      Awye wough it.
      Away with it.
    • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 53:
    • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 56:
      Dinna mell wi' it.
      Don't meddle with it.

Zhuang cardinal numbers

< 0 1 2 >
Cardinal : it

From Chinese 一 (MC 'jit, “one”). Cognate with Thai เอ็ด (èt), Lao ເອັດ (ē ʼat), Shan ဢဵတ်း (ʼáet), Ahom 𑜒𑜢𑜄𑜫 (ʼit), Bouyei idt.

it (1957–1982 spelling **it)

  1. one
    song bak it
    two hundred and ten

Used with ngeih rather than song.