# hit

> English word · Verb · IPA /hɪt/ · frequency rank #421

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

## Easily confused with
- **ho** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-ho)
- **HR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hr)
- **HP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hp)
- **hm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hm)
- **HQ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hq)
- **Hu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hu)
- **HK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hk)
- **hv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hv)
- **hn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hn)
- **how** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-how)
- **hot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hot)
- **hop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hop)
- **huh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-huh)
- **HIV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hiv)
- **hmm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hmm)
- **hug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hug)
- **hub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hub)
- **hon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hon)
- **hut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hut)
- **hum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hit-vs-hum)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hit