it

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "it"

English[edit]

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Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English it, hit ( > English dialectal hit (“it”)), from Old English hit (“it”), from Proto-Germanic *hit (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this, here”). Cognate with West Frisian it (“it”), Low German it (“it”), Dutch het (“it”), German es (“it”). More at he.

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

it (subjective and objective it, reflexive and intensive itself, possessive determiner and noun its)

  1. The third-person singular personal pronoun that is normally used to refer to an inanimate object, also often used to refer to animals.
    Put it over there.
    Take each day as it comes.
    I heard the sound of the school bus - it was early today.
  2. A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to a child, especially of unknown gender.
    She took the baby and held it in her arms.
    • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Chapter IV:
      A child cannot quarrel with its elders, as I had done; cannot give its furious feelings uncontrolled play, as I had given mine, without experiencing afterwards the pang of remorse and the chill of reaction.
    • 1859, Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White:
      I could only encourage Mrs. Clements to speak next of Anne's early days […] "There was nobody else, sir, to take the little helpless creature in hand," replied Mrs. Clements. "The wicked mother seemed to hate it—as if the poor baby was in fault!—from the day it was born. My heart was heavy for the child, and I made the offer to bring it up as tenderly as if it was my own."
      "Did Anne remain entirely under your care from that time?"
      "Not quite entirely, sir. Mrs. Catherick had her whims and fancies about it at times, and used now and then to lay claim to the child, as if she wanted to spite me for bringing it up.
    • 2005, Marcus Zusak, The Book Thief, part 10:
      The sky was dripping. Like a tap that a child has tried its hardest to turn off but hasn't quite managed.
  3. Used to refer to someone being identified, often on the phone, but not limited to this situation.
    It's me. John.
    Is it her?
  4. The impersonal pronoun, used without referent as the subject of an impersonal verb or statement. (known as the dummy pronoun or weather it)
    It is nearly 10 o’clock.
    It’s 10:45 [read ten-forty-five].
    It’s very cold today.
    It’s lonely without you.
  5. The impersonal pronoun, used as a placeholder for a delayed subject, or less commonly, object; known as the dummy pronoun or, more formally in linguistics, a syntactic expletive. The delayed subject is commonly a to-infinitive, a gerund, or a noun clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction.
    It is easy to see how she would think that. (with the infinitive clause headed by to see)
    I find it odd that you would say that. (with the noun clause introduced by that)
    It is hard seeing you so sick. (with the gerund seeing)
    He saw to it that everyone would vote for him. (with the noun clause introduced by that)
    It is not clear if the report was true. (with the noun clause introduced by if)
  6. All or the end; something after which there is no more.
    Are there more students in this class, or is this it?
    That's it—I'm not going to any more candy stores with you.
  7. (chiefly pejorative, offensive) A third-person singular personal pronoun used to refer to an animate referent who is transgender or is neither female nor male.
    • 1993, Bruce Coville, Aliens Ate My Homework, pages 72–73:
      "Oh, don't be silly. I am neither male nor female. I'm a farfel." […] "It. Refer to me as an it."
      "That seems pretty rude," I said nervously.
      "Not as rude as calling me a he or a she," it said.
  8. (obsolete) Followed by an omitted and understood relative pronoun: That which; what.
    • 1643, Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, II.2:
      In briefe, I am content, and what should providence add more? Surely this is it [= it which] wee call Happinesse, and this doe I enjoy [...].
Usage notes[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from it
See also[edit]
English’s other subject and object pronouns
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Determiner[edit]

it

  1. (obsolete) its
    • 1611, Authorized King James Version of the Bible, first edition, Leviticus 25:5:
      That which groweth of it owne accord of thy haruest, thou ſhalt not reape, neither gather the grapes of thy Uine vndreſſed: for it is a yeere of reſt vnto the land. (replaced by "its" in the 1769 Oxford Standard Text)

Noun[edit]

it (plural its)

  1. One who is neither a he nor a she; a creature; a dehumanized being.
    • 1995, Neil Weiner, Sharon E. Robinson Kurpius, Shattered innocence (page 8)
      Too often, children become an "it" in their homes and their humanness is devalued.
    • 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, Bulldog Drummond Chapter 1
      His master glanced up quickly, and removed the letter from his hands. "I'm surprised at you, James," he remarked severely. "A secretary should control itself. Don't forget that the perfect secretary is an it: an automatic machine—a thing incapable of feeling.…"
  2. The person who chases and tries to catch the other players in the playground game of tag.
    In the next game, Adam and Tom will be it…
    • 2000, Katherine T. Thomas, Amelia M. Lee, Jerry R. Thomas, Physical education for children (page 464)
      When there are only two children left who haven't been tagged, I will stop the game, and we will start over with those children starting as the Its.
  3. (Britain, uncountable) The game of tag.
    Let's play it at breaktime.
  4. (uncountable) sex appeal, especially that which goes beyond beauty.
    • 1904, Rudyard Kipling, "Mrs Bathurst"
      'Tisn't beauty, so to speak, nor good talk necessarily. It's just It. Some women'll stay in a man's memory if they once walked down a street
    • 1927, Dorothy Parker,
      And she had It. It, hell; she had Those.
  5. (euphemistic) sexual activity

Adjective[edit]

it (not comparable)

  1. (colloquial) most fashionable.
    • 2007 September, Vibe, volume 15, number 9, page 202:
      Going away for the weekend and feel the need to profile en route? This is the "it" bag.
    • David Germain, Hilarious ‘Kick-Ass’ delivers bloody fun, Associated Press, 2010:
      With Hit Girl, Moretz is this year's It Girl, alternately sweet, savage and scary.

Etymology 2[edit]

Abbreviation[edit]

it

  1. (language) Italian.
  2. Italy.
Derived terms[edit]
See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Azerbaijani[edit]

Other scripts
Cyrillic ит
Roman it
Perso-Arabic

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Turkic *it, *ït (“canine”).

Noun[edit]

it (definite accusative iti, plural itlər)

  1. dog

Declension[edit]

Declension of it
singular plural
nominative it itlər
definite accusative iti itləri
dative itə itlərə
locative itdə itlərdə
ablative itdən itlərdən
definite genitive itin itlərin
Possessive forms of it
nominative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) itim itlərim
sənin (“your”) itin itlərin
onun (“his/her/its”) iti itləri
bizim (“our”) itimiz itlərimiz
sizin (“your”) itiniz itləriniz
onların (“their”) iti itləri
accusative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) itimi itlərimi
sənin (“your”) itini itlərini
onun (“his/her/its”) itini itlərini
bizim (“our”) itimizi itlərimizi
sizin (“your”) itinizi itlərinizi
onların (“their”) itini itlərini
dative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) itimə itlərimə
sənin (“your”) itinə itlərinə
onun (“his/her/its”) itinə itlərinə
bizim (“our”) itimizə itlərimizə
sizin (“your”) itinizə itlərinizə
onların (“their”) itinə itlərinə
locative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) itimdə itlərimdə
sənin (“your”) itində itlərində
onun (“his/her/its”) itində itlərində
bizim (“our”) itimizdə itlərimizdə
sizin (“your”) itinizdə itlərinizdə
onların (“their”) itində itlərində
ablative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) itimdən itlərimdən
sənin (“your”) itindən itlərindən
onun (“his/her/its”) itindən itlərindən
bizim (“our”) itimizdən itlərimizdən
sizin (“your”) itinizdən itlərinizdən
onların (“their”) itindən itlərindən
genitive
singular plural
mənim (“my”) itimin itlərimin
sənin (“your”) itinin itlərinin
onun (“his/her/its”) itinin itlərinin
bizim (“our”) itimizin itlərimizin
sizin (“your”) itinizin itlərinizin
onların (“their”) itinin itlərinin

Charrua[edit]

Noun[edit]

it

  1. fire

References[edit]

  • Rodolfo Maruca Sosa, La nación charrúa (1957)

Chuukese[edit]

Noun[edit]

it

  1. name

Crimean Tatar[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Turkic *it, *ït.

Noun[edit]

it

  1. dog

Synonyms[edit]

References[edit]

  • Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎[1], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Irish[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Contraction[edit]

it (triggers lenition)

  1. (Munster) Contraction of i do.
    Buail it phóca é.
    Put it in your pocket.

Related terms[edit]

Irish preposition contractions
Basic form Contracted with Copular forms
an (“the sg”) na (“the pl”) mo (“my”) do (“your”) a (“his, her, their; which (present)”) ár (“our”) ar (“which (past)”) (before consonant) (present/future before vowel) (past/conditional before vowel)
de (“from”) den de na
desna*		 de mo
dem*		 de do
ded*, det*		 dá dár dar darb darbh
do (“to, for”) don do na
dosna*		 do mo
dom*		 do do
dod*, dot*		 dá dár dar darb darbh
faoi (“under, about”) faoin faoi na faoi mo faoi do faoina faoinár faoinar faoinarb faoinarbh
i (“in”) sa, san sna i mo
im*		 i do
id*, it*		 ina inár inar inarb inarbh
le (“with”) leis an leis na le mo
lem*		 le do
led*, let*		 lena lenár lenar lenarb lenarbh
ó (“from, since”) ón ó na
ósna*		 ó mo
óm*		 ó do
ód*, ót*		 óna ónár ónar ónarb ónarbh
trí (“through”) tríd an trí na trí mo trí do trína trínár trínar trínarb trínarbh
*Dialectal.

Latin[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

it

  1. third-person singular present active indicative of eō

Latvian[edit]

Particle[edit]

it

  1. used to assign accentuation to expression
    it sevišķi ― especially
    it nekas ― nothing at all
    it nekur ― nowhere at all
    it nemaz ― not at all
    it kā ― as if

Middle Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

it

  1. Alternative form of het

Middle English[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

it

  1. Alternative form of hit

Determiner[edit]

it

  1. Alternative form of hit

References[edit]

Middle Low German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Saxon it, from Proto-Germanic *hit.

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

it

  1. (third person singular neuter nominative) it
  2. (third person singular neuter accusative) it

Declension[edit]

Middle Low German personal pronouns
nominative accusative dative genitive
1st person singular ik (ek) mî (mê, mik, mek) mîn (mîner)
2nd person singular dû dî (dê, dik, dek) dîn (dîner)
3rd person singular
m hê (hî, hie) ēne, en (ȫne, ȫn) ēme, em (ȫme, en) sîn (sîner)
n it (et)
f sê (sî, sie, sü̂) ēre, ēr (ērer, ȫrer)
1st person plural wî (wê, wie) uns (ûs, ös, ü̂sik) unser (ûser)
2nd person plural gî (jê, î) jû (jûwe, û, jük, gik) jûwer (ûwer)
3rd person plural sê (sî, sie) em, öm, jüm (en) ēre, ēr (ērer, ȫrer)

For an explanation of the forms in brackets see here.


Northern Sami[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (Kautokeino) IPA(key): /ˈih(t)/

Verb[edit]

it

  1. second-person singular present of ii

Old Irish[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • (2nd sg.): at

Verb[edit]

it

  1. second-person singular present indicative of is
  2. third-person plural present indicative of is

Old Saxon[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *it.

Pronoun[edit]

it n

  1. it

Declension[edit]

Old Saxon personal pronouns
Personal pronouns
Singular 1. 2. 3. m 3. f 3. n
Nominative ik thū hē siu it
Accusative mī, me, mik thī, thik ina sia
Dative mī thī imu iru it
Genitive mīn thīn is ira is
Dual 1. 2. - - -
Nominative wit git - - -
Accusative unk ink - - -
Dative
Genitive unkero - - -
Plural 1. 2. 3. m 3. f 3. n
Nominative wī, we gī, ge sia sia siu
Accusative ūs, unsik eu, iu, iuu
Dative ūs im
Genitive ūser euwar, iuwer, iuwar, iuwero, iuwera iro

Descendants[edit]

  • Low German: et

Sathmar Swabian[edit]

Adverb[edit]

it

  1. not

References[edit]

  • Claus Stephani, Volksgut der Sathmarschwaben (1985)

Turkish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Ottoman Turkish ايت‎ (it), from Old Turkic ıt‎ (“dog”), from Proto-Turkic *īt, *ıyt, *ɨt, *it.

Noun[edit]

it (definite accusative iti, plural itler)

  1. (often derogatory) dog
  2. (derogatory) scoundrel, detestable person
Usage notes[edit]

Not historically derogatory, and still used as the primary term for "dog" in the countryside. Usually, if a dog is a stray or feral, it can be referred to as "it" as well. The more usual word is köpek, which is also pejorative and derogatory when used for a person.

Declension[edit]
Inflection
Nominative it
Definite accusative iti
Singular Plural
Nominative it itler
Definite accusative iti itleri
Dative ite itlere
Locative itte itlerde
Ablative itten itlerden
Genitive itin itlerin
Possessive forms
Singular Plural
1st singular itim itlerim
2nd singular itin itlerin
3rd singular iti itleri
1st plural itimiz itlerimiz
2nd plural itiniz itleriniz
3rd plural itleri itleri
Predicative forms
Singular Plural
1st singular itim itlerim
2nd singular itsin itlersin
3rd singular it
ittir 		itler
itlerdir
1st plural itiz itleriz
2nd plural itsiniz itlersiniz
3rd plural itler itlerdir

Etymology 2[edit]

Verb[edit]

it

  1. second-person singular imperative of itmek (“to push”)

Turkmen[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Turkic ıt‎ (“dog”), from Proto-Turkic *īt, *ıyt, *ɨt, *it.

Noun[edit]

it (definite accusative itidi, plural itler)

  1. dog

Declension[edit]

    declension of it
singular plural
nominative it itler
accusative idi itleri
genitive idiň itleriň
dative ide itlere
locative itde itlerde
ablative itden itlerden

Uzbek[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Turkic *ɨt, *it.

Noun[edit]

it (plural itlar)

  1. dog

Volapük[edit]

Determiner[edit]

it

  1. (with a personal pronoun) self; myself; yourself; himself; herself; itself; ourselves; themselves; emphasises the identity or singularity of the modified noun phrase

Welsh[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

it

  1. (literary) second-person singular of i

West Frisian[edit]

Article[edit]

it n

  1. the (the definite article that is placed before neuter nouns. Non-neuter (common gender) nouns take the article de).

Pronoun[edit]

it (personal pronoun)

  1. it: the third-person singular, referring to something neutral, genderless.

Zhuang[edit]

Zhuang cardinal numbers
 <  0 1 2  > 
    Cardinal : it

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Middle Chinese 一 (MC ʔiɪt̚, “one”). Cognate with Lao ເອັດ (’et) and Thai เอ็ด (èt).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (Standard Zhuang) IPA(key): /it˥/
  • Tone numbers: it7
  • Hyphenation: it

Numeral[edit]

it (old orthography it)

  1. one

Usage notes[edit]

Used with ngeih rather than song.

Synonyms[edit]

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