(General American) IPA(key): /ət/, [ɪ̈t], enPR: ət
(General Australian) IPA(key): /ət/
(General New Zealand) IPA(key): /ɘt/
Homophone: at(unstressed)(General American, General Australian, General New Zealand)
Etymology 1
From Middle Englishit, hit ( > dialectal Englishhit(“it”)), from Old Englishhit(“it”), from Proto-Germanic*hit(“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European*ḱe-, *ḱey-(“this, here”). Cognate with West Frisianit(“it”), Saterland Frisianet, 't(“it”), Low Germanit(“it”), Dutchhet(“it”), Germanes(“it”), Latincis, hic. More at he.
Alternative forms
hit(dialectal)
i'(colloquial)
itt(obsolete)
Pronoun
it (subjective and objectiveit, reflexive and intensiveitself, possessive determiner and pronounits)
The third-person singular personal pronoun that is normally used to refer to an inanimate object or abstract entity, also often used to refer to animals.
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 child, especially of unknown gender.
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.
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.
Used to refer 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 or weather it)
[read ten-forty-five].
The impersonal pronoun, used without referent in various short idioms.
stick it out
live it up
rough it
The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly, object; known as the dummy pronoun 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)
(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.
(chiefly derogatory, offensive)A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an animate referent who is transgender or is neither female nor male.
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.
(obsolete)Followed by an omitted and understood relative pronoun: 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 [= it which] wee call Happinesse, and this doe I enjoy [...].
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
See also
Translations
Determiner
it
(obsolete) its
1611, Authorized King James Version of the Bible, first edition, Leviticus 25:5:
That which groweth of it owne accord of thy haruest, thou ſhalt not reape, neither gather the grapes of thy Uine vndreſſed: for it is a yeere of reſt vnto the land. (replaced by "its" in the 1769 Oxford Standard Text)
Noun
it (pluralits)
One who is neither a he nor a she; a creature; a dehumanized being.
1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, Bulldog Drummond Chapter 1
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.
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…
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.
(Britain, uncountable) The game of tag.
Let's play it at breaktime.
(uncountable) Sex appeal, especially that which goes beyond beauty.
1904, Rudyard Kipling, "Mrs Bathurst"
'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:
And she had It. It, hell; she had Those.
(euphemistic) Sexual activity.
1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 14:
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.
caught them doing it
A biological force that inhabits living beings, according to the vitalist approach of Georg Groddeck.
Adjective
it (not comparable)
(colloquial) Most fashionable.
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.
2010, David Germain, Hilarious ‘Kick-Ass’ delivers bloody fun, Associated Press
With Hit Girl, Moretz is this year's It Girl, alternately sweet, savage and scary.
Etymology 2
Abbreviation.
Proper noun
it
Abbreviation of Italy.
Abbreviation of Italian. (language)
Derived terms
gin and it, gin-and-It
See also
IT
References
Anagrams
TI, Ti., ti
Azerbaijani
Etymology
From Proto-Turkic*it, *ït(“canine”).
Noun
it (definite accusativeiti, pluralitlər)
dog
Declension
Derived terms
itbaz(“caninophile”)
See also
köpək
Further reading
“it” in Obastan.com.
Charrua
Noun
it
fire
References
Rodolfo Maruca Sosa, La nación charrúa (1957)
Chuukese
Noun
it
name
Crimean Tatar
Etymology
From Proto-Turkic*it, *ït.
Noun
it
dog
Synonyms
köpek
References
Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M., Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary][2], Simferopol: Dolya, 2002, →ISBN
Irish
Alternative forms
id
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ɪt̪ˠ/
Contraction
it (triggers lenition)
(Munster)Contraction of i do(“in your”).
Related terms
Latin
Pronunciation
(Classical) IPA(key): /it/, [ɪt̪]
(Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /it/, [it̪]
Verb
it
third-person singular present active indicative of eō
Latvian
Particle
it
used to assign accentuation to expression
Middle Dutch
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ɪt/
Pronoun
it
Alternative form of het
Middle English
Pronoun
it
Alternative form of hit(“it”)
Determiner
it
Alternative form of hit(“it”)
Middle Low German
Etymology
From Old Saxonit, from Proto-Germanic*hit.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ɪt/, /ət/
Pronoun
it
(third person singular neuter nominative) it
(third person singular neuter accusative) it
Declension
Descendants
Low German: et, it
Plautdietsch: et
Min Nan
Northern Sami
Pronunciation
(Kautokeino) IPA(key): /ˈih(t)/
Verb
it
second-person singular present of ii
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
it
inflection of is:
second-person singular present indicative
third-person plural present indicative
Old Saxon
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic*it.
Pronoun
itn
it
Declension
Descendants
Middle Low German: it
Low German: et, it
Plautdietsch: et
Piedmontese
Pronoun
it
you (singular)
Sathmar Swabian
Adverb
it
not
References
Claus Stephani, Volksgut der Sathmarschwaben (1985)
Turkish
Pronunciation
IPA(key): [ˈit]
Etymology 1
From Ottoman Turkishایت (it), from Old Turkicıt (ıt, “dog”), from Proto-Turkic*īt, *ıyt, *ɨt, *it.
Noun
it (definite accusativeiti, pluralitler)
(often derogatory) 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
it
second-person singular imperative of itmek(“to push”)
Turkmen
Etymology
From Old Turkicıt (ıt, “dog”), from Proto-Turkic*īt, *ıyt, *ɨt, *it.
Noun
it (definite accusativeidi, pluralitler)
dog
Declension
Uzbek
Etymology
From Proto-Turkic*ɨt, *it.
Noun
it (pluralitlar)
dog
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
Welsh
Alternative forms
iti
i ti
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ɪt/
Pronoun
it
(literary)second-person singular of i
West Frisian
Etymology 1
From Old Frisianhit, from Proto-Germanic*hit.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /ɪt/
(unstressed) IPA(key): /(ə)t/
Pronoun
it
it (third-person singular neuter pronoun)
Inflection
Further reading
“it (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal[3] (in Dutch), 2011
Etymology 2
From Old Frisianthet, from Proto-Germanic*þat.
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /(ə)t/
Determiner
it
neuter singular of de
Zhuang
Etymology
From Chinese一 (MC ʔiɪt̚, “one”). Cognate with Thaiเอ็ด(èt), Laoເອັດ(ʼet), Shanဢဵတ်း(ʼét), Ahom𑜒𑜢𑜄𑜫(ʼit), Bouyeiidt.