It Definition
it
See also Appendix:Variations of "it"
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English
Wikipedia has an article on: ItAlternative forms
- (dialectal) hit
Pronunciation
- (stressed) enPR: ĭt, IPA: /ɪt/, SAMPA: /It/
- (dialectual) IPA: /ɪʔ/
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Audio (UK) (file) -
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪt
- (unstressed) enPR: ət, IPA: /ət/, SAMPA: /@t/
- Homophone: at (unstressed)
Etymology 1
From Middle English, from Old English hit, from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this, here”). Cognate with West Frisian it (“it”), Low German it (“it”), Dutch het (“it”), German es (“it”). More at he.
Alternative forms
- itt (obsolete)
Pronoun
it (subjective and objective it, reflexive and intensive itself, possessive adjective and noun its)
- The third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object, to an inanimate thing with no or unknown sex or gender.
- Put it over there.
- Take each day as it comes.
- The third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an animate entity of unknown gender.
- She took the baby and held it in her arms.
- 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter IV:
- 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.
- Used to refer to oneself when identifying oneself, often on the phone, but not limited to this situation.
- It's me. John.
- The impersonal pronoun, used without referent as the subject of an impersonal verb or statement. (known as the dummy pronoun or weather it)
- It is nearly 10 o’clock.
- It’s very cold today.
- It’s lonely without you.
- The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly, object. (known as the dummy pronoun)
- It is easy to see how she would think that.
- I find it odd that you would say that.
- He saw to it that everyone would vote for him.
- (obsolete, relative) That which; what.
- 1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, II.2:
- In briefe, I am content, and what should providence add more? Surely this is it wee call Happinesse, and this doe I enjoy [...].
- 1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, II.2:
- See Wiktionary:English inflection for other personal pronouns.
Quotations
- For examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.
Derived terms
Derived termsSee also
English’s other subject and object pronounsTranslations
subject — inanimate thing
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
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Noun
it (plural it)
- The person or people who chase and try to catch the other players in the playground game of tag.
- In the next game, Adam and Tom will be it…
- (UK) The game of tag itself.
- Let's play it at breaktime.
Adjective
it (not comparable)
- (colloquial) most fashionable.
- Vibe, Vol. 15, No. 9, p. 202, September 2007:
- Going away for the weekend and feel the need to profile en route? This is the "it" bag.
- David Germain, Hilarious ‘Kick-Ass’ delivers bloody fun, Associated Press, 2010:
- With Hit Girl, Moretz is this year's It Girl, alternately sweet, savage and scary.
- Vibe, Vol. 15, No. 9, p. 202, September 2007:
Etymology 2
Abbreviation
it
Derived terms
See also
Statistics
Anagrams
Azeri
Etymology
From Proto-Turkic *it, *ït.
Noun
it (Cyrillic spelling ит)
Verb
it (Cyrillic spelling ит)
- get lost (imperative)
Crimean Tatar
Etymology
From Proto-Turkic *it, *ït.
Noun
it
Synonyms
References
- Useinov & Mireev Dictionary, Simferopol, Dolya, 2002 [1]
Latin
Verb
it
- third-person singular present active indicative of eō
Old Saxon
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *it.
Pronoun
it n.
Descendants
- Low Saxon: et
Turkish
Etymology
From Old Turkic ıt (“dog”), from Proto-Turkic *īt, *ıyt, *ɨt, *it.
Noun
it
Usage notes
It's generally used in countryside when meant "dog". But if the dog isn't loved, it can be said "it" for it, too.
Verb
it
- push (imperative)
Uzbek
Etymology
From Proto-Turkic *ɨt, *it
Noun
it
Volapük
Determiner
it
- (with a personal pronoun) self; myself; yourself; himself; herself; itself; ourselves; themselves; emphasises the identity or singularity of the modified noun phrase
West Frisian
Article
it n.
- the (the definite article that is placed before neuter nouns. Non-neuter (common gender) nouns take the article de).
Pronoun
it (personal pronoun)
- it: the third-person singular, referring to something neutral, genderless.
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