sit
/sɪt/
"sit" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sit” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,355 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #1,355
- frequency rank, English
- 3
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sit |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /sɪt/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #1,355 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “sit” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for sit is 3 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,355 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 17 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
sit doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "so", "SS", "SP", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sed- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *sédyeti Proto-Germanic *sitjaną Proto-West Germanic *sittjan Old English sittan Middle English sitten English sit From Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, f… The correct English form is sit, spelled S-I-T.
Definition
- 1To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks.
- 2To move oneself into such a position.
- 3To occupy a given position.
- 4To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition.
- 5To be a member of a deliberative body.
- 6Of a legislative or, especially, a judicial body such as a court, to be in session.
- 7To lie, rest, or bear; to press or weigh.
- 8To be adjusted; to fit.
- 9To be accepted or acceptable; to work.
- 10To cause to be seated or in a sitting posture; to furnish a seat to.
- 11To accommodate in seats; to seat.
- 12To babysit.
- 13To take, to undergo or complete (an examination or test).
- 14To cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl; to brood; to incubate.
- 15To take a position for the purpose of having some artistic representation of oneself made, such as a picture or a bust.
- 16To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position; to have direction.
- 17To keep one's seat when faced with (a blow, attack); to endure, to put up with.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sed- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *sédyeti Proto-Germanic *sitjaną Proto-West Germanic *sittjan Old English sittan Middle English sitten English sit From Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, from Proto-West Germanic *sittjan, from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“sit”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian sitte, Low German sitten, Dutch zitten, German sitzen, Swedish sitta, Norwegian Bokmål sitte, Norwegian Nynorsk sitja; and with Irish suigh, Latin sedeo, Russian сиде́ть (sidétʹ).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
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 "sit"?
What does "sit" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "sit"?
How do you pronounce "sit"?
What is the origin of the word "sit"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “sit”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-I-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /sɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “so” - see the side-by-side comparison. sit vs so
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.