sitting
sit·ting/ˈsɪtɪŋ/noun, adjective, verb
sitting is spelled S-I-T-T-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables (sit·ting). It appears 72 times per million words in written English, the 1,457th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sitting means “A period during which one is seated for a specific purpose” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sitting is sittings.
How many letters and syllables are in sitting?
| Letters | 7: S-I-T-T-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: sit·ting |
| In writing | 72 times per million words; the 1,457th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is sitting?
Sitting appears 72 times per million words in written English, the 1,457th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sitting?
- /ˈsɪtɪŋ/
Sitting has 2 syllables, split sit·ting in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sitting.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sitting
- sittings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sitting mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A period during which one is seated for a specific purpose.
Due to the sheer volume of guests, we had to have two sittings for the meal.
- 2
A seance or other session with a medium or fortuneteller.
- 3
A special seat allotted to a seat-holder, at church, etc.
- 4
The part of the year in which judicial business is transacted.
- 5
A legislative session (in the sense of meeting, and not period).
- 6
The incubation of eggs by a bird.
- 7
A clutch of eggs laid by a brooding bird.
we have thirty-four chicks from eight sittings of eggs
- 8
An uninterrupted application to anything for a time; the period during which one continues at anything.
I read it in two sittings.
adjective
- 1
Executed from a sitting position.
- 2
Occupying a specific official or legal position; incumbent.
- 3
Of a bird, incubating eggs.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of sit
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sitting in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sitting come from?
From Middle English sittyng, sittynge, equivalent to sit + -ing. Cognate with Dutch zitting (“a sitting, session”), German Sitzung (“a sitting, session”), Swedish sittning (“a sitting, session”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).