fit

pronunciation

How to pronounce fit in British English: UK [fɪt] word uk audio image

How to pronounce fit in American English: US [fɪt] word us audio image

Noun:

a display of bad temper
a sudden uncontrollable attack
the manner in which something fits
a sudden flurry of activity (often for no obvious reason)
Verb:

be agreeable or acceptable to
be the right size or shape; fit correctly or as desired
satisfy a condition or restriction
make fit
insert or adjust several objects or people
be compatible, similar or consistent; coincide in their characteristics
conform to some shape or size
provide with (something) usually for a specific purpose
make correspond or harmonize
Adjective:

meeting adequate standards for a purpose
(usually followed by `to' or `for') on the point of or strongly disposed
physically and mentally sound or healthy

Word Origin

fit: fit: English has three distinct words fit, but the history of them all is very problematical. The verb fit ‘make suitable, be the right size, etc’ [16], and the presumably related adjective ‘proper, appropriate’ [14] may come from a Middle English verb fitten ‘marshal troops’, but that only pushes the difficulty one stage further back, for no one knows where fitten came from. (The derivative outfit dates from the 18th century.) Fit ‘seizure, sudden outburst’ [14] may be the same word as Old English fitt ‘conflict’, whose antecedents again are obscure (fitful was formed from it in around 1600, but was not widely used before the 19th century). Fit ‘section of a poem’ [OE] also comes from an Old English fitt, which might conceivably be identical with Old English fitt ‘conflict’; but an alternative possibility is some connection with Old High German fizza ‘skein’ and Old Norse fit ‘hem’.

fit (n.1): 1680s, "process of fitting," from fit (v.). From 1823 as "the fitting of one thing to another;" 1831 as "the way something fits."

fit (v.): c. 1400, "to marshal or deploy (troops);" early 15c. as "be fitting or proper, be suitable," from fit (adj.) and perhaps in part from Scandinavian (compare Old Norse fitja "knit"). From 1580s as "be the right shape." Transitive sense of "provide with what is suitable" is from 1590s; that of "make fit or suitable, bring into corresponding form or condition" is from c. 1600. Related: Fitted; fitting. Fitted sheets is attested from 1948.

fit (n.2): "paroxysm, sudden attack" (as of anger), 1540s, probably via Middle English sense of "painful, exciting experience" (early 14c.), from Old English fitt "conflict, struggle," which is of uncertain origin, with no clear cognates outside English. Perhaps ultimately cognate with fit (adj.) on notion of "to meet." Meaning "sudden impulse toward activity or effort" is from 1580s. Phrase by fits and starts first attested 1610s (by fits is from 1580s).

fit (adj.): "suited to the circumstances, proper," mid-15c., of unknown origin, perhaps from Middle English noun fit "an adversary of equal power" (mid-13c.), which is perhaps connected to fit (n.1). In athletics, "in condition, properly trained for action," from 1869. Related: Fitter; fittest. Survival of the fittest (1867) coined by H. Spencer.

fit (n.3): part of a poem, Old English fitt, of unknown origin; perhaps related to fit (n.2).