it - synonyms, antonyms, definitions

it

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of it in English

English Online Dictionary. What means it‎? What does it mean?

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of Italian italiano

Symbol

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

English

Alternative forms

hit (dialectal)
i' (colloquial)
itt (obsolete)

Etymology

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-, *ḱey- (“this, here”). Cognate with West Frisian it (“it”), Saterland Frisian et, 't (“it”), Dutch het (“it”), Low German it (“it”), German es (“it”). Compare also Gothic 𐌹𐍄𐌰 (ita, “it”), Latin cis (“on this”), hic (“this”). More at he.

Pronunciation

(stressed)
- (Received Pronunciation, General American, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɪt/ enPR: ĭt
- (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ɘt/
- Rhymes: -ɪt
(unstressed)
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪt/, [ɪ̈t], [ɪt]
- Rhymes: -ɪt
- (General American) IPA^(key): /ət/, [ɪ̈t], [ɪ̈ʔ], enPR: ət
- (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ət/
- (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ɘt/
Homophone: at (unstressed) (General American, General Australian)

Pronoun

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

The third-person singular neuter personal pronoun used to refer to an inanimate object, abstract entity, or non-human living thing.
- 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
  It is not a pen. It is a book.
A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to a baby or child, especially of unknown gender.
(obsolete) An affectionate third-person singular personal pronoun.
- 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.”
(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!!"
Refers to someone being identified, often on the phone, but not limited to this situation.
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).
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.
2. Referring to sexual intercourse or other sexual activity.
  I caught them doing it.
  
  Are you getting it regularly?
(uncountable) Sex appeal, especially that which goes beyond physical appearance.
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.
(with the infinitive clause headed by to see)
It was felt that I'd be the right man for the job.

(with the noun clause introduced by that)

(with the gerund seeing)

(with the noun clause introduced by that)

(with the noun clause introduced by if)
All or the end; something after which there is no more.
(obsolete) Followed by an omitted and understood relative pronoun: That which; what.

Usage notes

See Wiktionary:English inflection, Appendix:English pronouns and Appendix:English third-person singular pronouns for other personal pronouns.
For quotations using this term, see Citations:it.

Derived terms

Translations

Determiner

(obsolete) Its.

Noun

it (plural its)

One who is neither a he nor a she; a creature; a dehumanized being.
The person who chases and tries to catch the other players in the playground game of tag.
(British) A game of tag.
(informal) A desirable characteristic, as being fashionable.
(informal) Sexual intercourse.
(informal) Sex appeal.
Alternative letter-case form of It (“force in the vitalist approach of Georg Groddeck”)
Alternative letter-case form of It (“the id”)

Translations

Adjective

it (not comparable)

(colloquial) Most fashionable, popular, or in vogue.

References

“it”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “it”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

TI, T&I, t͞i, Ti., ti

Azerbaijani

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *ï̄t (“dog”).

Pronunciation

Noun

it (definite accusative iti, plural itlər)

Declension

Derived terms

itbaz (“caninophile”)

Charrua

Noun

fire

References

Rodolfo Maruca Sosa, La nación charrúa (1957)

Chuukese

Noun

name

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *it, *ït.

Noun

Synonyms

köpek

References

Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[5], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Hokkien

Irish

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪt̪ˠ/

Contraction

it (triggers lenition)

(Munster) Contraction of i do (“in your”).

Related terms

Jamaican Creole

Alternative forms

hit (dialects without H-dropping)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /it/
Hyphenation: it

Etymology 1

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.

Pronoun

Third-person singular neuter pronoun: it
Third-person singular neuter accusative pronoun: it

Usage notes

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

Etymology 2

Derived from English hit.

Verb

(rare) to hit (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Synonym: lik

References

Karaim

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *ɨt.

Noun

dog, hound

References

N. A. Baskakov, S.M. Šapšala, editor (1973), “it”, in Karaimsko-Russko-Polʹskij Slovarʹ [Karaim-Russian-Polish Dictionary], Moscow: Moskva, →ISBN

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈit/, [ˈɪt̪]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈit/, [ˈit̪]

Verb

third-person singular present active indicative of eō

Latvian

Particle

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

Middle Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪt/

Pronoun

Alternative form of het

Middle English

Pronoun

Alternative form of hit (“it”)

Determiner

Alternative form of hit (“it”)

Middle Low German

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪt/, /ət/

Pronoun

(third person singular neuter nominative) it
(third person singular neuter accusative) it

Declension

Descendants

Low German: et, it
Plautdietsch: et

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

(Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈih(t)/

Verb

second-person singular present of ii

Old English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /it/

Verb

third-person singular present indicative of etan

Old Irish

Alternative forms

(second-person singular form) at

Pronunciation

(second-person singular form) IPA^(key): /it/
(third-person plural form) IPA^(key): /id/

Verb

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

Old Norse

Etymology

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

Pronoun

(personal) second-person dual pronoun; you two

Declension

Descendants

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

⇒ Old Norse: þit
- Icelandic: þið
- Faroese: tit
- Norwegian Nynorsk: de, did
Elfdalian: ið
Old Swedish: it
- Finland Swedish: et, ät

References

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *it.

Pronoun

it n

Declension

Descendants

Middle Low German: it
- Low German: et, it
- Plautdietsch: et

Piedmontese

Pronoun

you (singular)

Sathmar Swabian

Adverb

References

Claus Stephani, Volksgut der Sathmarschwaben (1985)

Turkish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈit]

Etymology 1

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

Noun

it (definite accusative iti, plural itler)

(often derogatory or dialectal) dog
(derogatory) scoundrel, detestable person, cur

Usage notes

Not historically derogatory, and still used as the primary term for "dog" in the countryside. Usually, if a dog is a stray or feral, it can be referred to as "it" as well. The more usual word is köpek, which is also pejorative and derogatory when used for a person.

Declension

Etymology 2

Verb

second-person singular imperative of itmek

Turkmen

Etymology

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

Noun

it (definite accusative idi, plural itler)

Declension

Uzbek

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *ï̄t (“dog”).

Noun

it (plural itlar)

Declension

Volapük

Determiner

(with a personal pronoun) self; myself; yourself; himself; herself; itself; ourselves; themselves; emphasises the identity or singularity of the modified noun phrase

Welsh

Alternative forms

iti
i ti

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪt/

Pronoun

(literary) second-person singular of i

West Frisian

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪt/
(unstressed) IPA^(key): /(ə)t/

Pronoun

it (third-person singular neuter pronoun)

Inflection

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /(ə)t/

Determiner

neuter singular of de

Yola

Alternative forms

yt
t' (misspelling)

Etymology

From Middle English hit, from Old English hit.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪt/

Pronoun

Derived terms

tis
it's
'twas
mai't
lee it

References

Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 23

Zhuang

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

(Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /ʔit˥/
Tone numbers: it⁷
Hyphenation: it

Numeral

it (1957–1982 spelling it)

Usage notes

Used with ngeih rather than song.

Synonyms

ndeu

it

it

Translingual

Etymology

Symbol

See also

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Determiner

Noun

Translations

Adjective

References

Anagrams

Azerbaijani

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

Charrua

Noun

References

Chuukese

Noun

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

Noun

Synonyms

References

Hokkien

Irish

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Contraction

Related terms

Jamaican Creole

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Pronoun

Usage notes

Etymology 2

Verb

References

Further reading

Karaim

Etymology

Noun

References

Latin

Pronunciation

Verb

Latvian

Particle

Middle Dutch

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Middle English

Pronoun

Determiner

Middle Low German

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Declension

Descendants

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

Verb

Old English