cit

/sɪt/

//sɪt// noun

"cit" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cit” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #33,177) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#33,177
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - a citizen; a city dweller, a townsman.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cit · cit · English

cit · rank #33,177 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #33,177
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH circumcised

Nearest frequency peer: circumcised (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “cit”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “cit” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cit vs co
33% similar
cit vs CM
0% similar
cit vs CT
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cit
PropertyValue
Headwordcit
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sɪt/
Letters3
Frequency rank#33,177
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “cit”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).citlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “circumcised” (#33,176), “civics” (#33,178), “cilantro” (#33,175). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cit” is #33,177. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for cit is neighbouring look-alikes ("co", "CM", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /sɪt/. Frequency #33,177 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Gloss: "a citizen; a city dweller, a townsman.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for cit, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "co", "CM", "CT", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Clipping of citizen. The correct English form is cit, spelled C-I-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    a citizen; a city dweller, a townsman.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how cit appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. […] the women of quality are frightened to see merchants wives and daughters dressed like themselves: this impudence of the city, they cry, is intolerable; mantua-makers are sent for, and the contrivance of fashions becomes all their study, that they may have always new modes ready to take up, as soon as those saucy cits shall begin to imitate those in be…
  2. Here comes the muſty trader, running over vvith remonſtrances. I muſt banter the cit.

Etymology

Clipping of citizen.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cit"?
"cit" is spelled C-I-T. The IPA pronunciation is /sɪt/.
What does "cit" mean?
As a noun, "cit" means: a citizen; a city dweller, a townsman.
What words are commonly confused with "cit"?
"cit" is commonly confused with "co", "CM", "CT". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cit"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cit" is /sɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "cit"?
Clipping of citizen. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cit", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list