slit
/ˈslɪt/noun, verb, adjective
slit is spelled S-L-I-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, slit means “A narrow cut or opening; a slot” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of slit is slits.
How many letters and syllables are in slit?
| Letters | 4: S-L-I-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is slit?
Slit appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th 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 slit?
- /ˈslɪt/
Slit has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-slit.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with slit?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as slit.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: list, silt.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of slit
- slits plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- slitting participle, present
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does slit mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A narrow cut or opening; a slot.
- 2
vulgarThe vulva.
- 3
vulgarA woman, usually a sexually loose woman; a prostitute.
verb
- 1
To cut a narrow opening.
He slit the bag open and the rice began pouring out.
- 2
To split into strips by lengthwise cuts.
- 3
To cut; to sever; to divide.
adjective
- 1
Having a cut narrow opening.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Slit in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fente , vulve |
| German | Nut, Schlitz, Spalt , Schamritze, Ritze , schlitzen |
| Portuguese | greta, ranhura , racha , fender, rachar |
| Spanish | ranura, tajo, rendija, rehendija, redendija, hendija |
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 slit come from?
From Middle English slitten, from Old English slītan, from Proto-Germanic *slītaną (“to tear apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leyd- (“to tear, rend (cut apart), split apart”). Possibly cognate with Latin laed- (“to strike, hurt, injure”). Doublet of slite; also related to slice through French borrowing. Apparently unrelated to English slot, whose etymology, however, is uncertain.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).