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hit

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

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Letters

3 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "hit", 3-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "hit" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "hit" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

hit is aEnglishverb. It means: To strike. Pronounced /hɪt/. It ranks #421 in English word frequency. Often confused with ho and HR.

Key facts for hit
PropertyValue
Headwordhit
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/hɪt/
Letters3
Frequency rank#421
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of hit in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for hit is 3 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /hɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #421 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 25 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for hit in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ho", "HR", "HP", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd-der. Proto-Indo-European *kh₂id-néh₂-ti Proto-Germanic *hittijaną Old Norse hittader. Old English hyttan Middle English hitten English hit Inherited from Middle English hitten (“to hit, strike, make contact with”),… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is hit, spelled H-I-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To strike.
  2. 2
    To strike.
  3. 3
    To strike.
  4. 4
    To strike.
  5. 5
    To strike.
  6. 6
    To strike.
  7. 7
    To strike.
  8. 8
    To manage to touch (a target) in the right place.
  9. 9
    To switch on or switch off (lights).
  10. 10
    To commence playing.
  11. 11
    To briefly visit.
  12. 12
    To encounter an obstacle or other difficulty.
  13. 13
    To attain, to achieve.
  14. 14
    To attain, to achieve.
  15. 15
    To attain, to achieve.
  16. 16
    To affect negatively.
  17. 17
    To attack.
  18. 18
    To make a play.
  19. 19
    To make a play.
  20. 20
    To make a play.
  21. 21
    To use; to connect to.
  22. 22
    To have sex with.
  23. 23
    To inhale an amount of smoke from a narcotic substance, particularly marijuana.
  24. 24
    (of an exercise) to affect, to work a body part.
  25. 25
    To work out.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd-der. Proto-Indo-European *kh₂id-néh₂-ti Proto-Germanic *hittijaną Old Norse hittader. Old English hyttan Middle English hitten English hit 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”).

Synonyms

beatpeltthumpbump offdo away withwhackkillbesetfall uponlay intoattackbangramsmashcopulate withsmoke uptokehit the gymbastebatterbelaborblowboom-boombuffetbuttcalcitratecuffdabdashdowsefeezefetch one a blowflapgive tocokickknockhammerhitimpactjerklambastelay onlungepatterpatpinkpokepummelpunchpoundtapthrashthwackrapslamslapsmacksmitespankstrikeswapswingevapulatewhipyerk

Antonyms

missblock

This word in other languages

Spanish(Español)Portuguese(Português)French(Français)German(Deutsch)

Frequency rank: #421 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hit"?
"hit" is spelled H-I-T. The IPA pronunciation is /hɪt/.
What does "hit" mean?
As a verb, "hit" means: To strike.
What words are commonly confused with "hit"?
"hit" is commonly confused with "ho", "HR", "HP". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "hit"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hit" is /hɪt/. 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 "hit"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd-der. Proto-Indo-European *kh₂id-néh₂-ti Proto-Germanic *hittijaną Old Norse hittader. Old English hyttan Middle English hitten English hit Inherited from Middle English hitten (“to hit, strike, make conta... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter H in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.