English

hit

/hɪt/
To administer a blow to, directly or with a weapon or missile.

    Etymology graph

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    • borrowed
    • derived
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    • meaning component
    • sound component
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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    Inherited from Middle English hitten (“to hit, strike, make contact with”), from Old English hittan (“to meet with, come upon, fall in with”), from Old Norse hitta (“to strike, meet”), from Proto-Germanic *hittijaną (“to come upon, find”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- (“to fall; fall upon; hit; cut; hew”).

    Cognates

    Cognate with West Frisian hitte (“to meet”), Dutch hitten (“to hit, encounter”), Danish hitte (“to find”), Faroese, Icelandic, Swedish hitta (“to meet”), Norwegian Nynorsk hitta, hitte (“to meet; to find”), Latin caedō (“to kill”), Albanian qit (“to hit, throw, pull out, release”). Probably also related to Dutch hei (“mallet”), German Heie (“wooden hammer, mallet”).

    (something very successful): Compare typologically striking, Russian порази́тельный (porazítelʹnyj) (<~ порази́ть (porazítʹ) <~ рази́ть (razítʹ)).

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English hit (“it”), from Old English hit (“it”), from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this, here”). Cognate with Dutch het (“it”). More at it; also note 'it.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishhitten
      • inheritedOld Englishhyttan
        • derivedOld Norsehitta
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*hittijaną “to come upon, find”
            • derivedProto-Indo-European*kh₂eyd- “to fall; fall upon; hit; cut; hew”

    Related: West Frisian hitte, Dutch hitten, Danish hitte, Swedish hitta, Norwegian Nynorsk hitta, Latin caedō, Albanian qit, Dutch hei, German Heie, Dutch het

    Sources