lit

See also: Lit, lít, līt, lit., &lit, -lit, lit-, and Lit.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

Etymology 1

From Middle English lihte, from Old English līhtte, first and third person singular preterit of līhtan (“to light”). More at light.

Verb

lit

1. simple past and past participle of light (“illuminate; start a fire; etc”)
2. simple past and past participle of light (“alight: land, come down on”)
   • 1896, Florence Merriam Bailey, A-birding on a Bronco, page 87:

     […] but finally [the bird] came to the tree and, after edging along falteringly, lit on a branch above them.

1. (US, dialectal) To run or light (alight).

Adjective

lit (comparative more lit, superlative most lit)

1. Illuminated.

   He walked down the lit corridor.

2. (slang) intoxicated or under the influence of drugs; stoned.
3. (slang) Sexually aroused (usually of a female), especially visibly sexually aroused.
4. (slang) Exciting, captivating; fun.
   • 2017, Justin Allec, Adrian Lysenko, & Kirsti Salmi, "Sounds of the City: Part VI", The Walleye, November 2017, page 8:

     DJ sets so lit the dance floor's dripping with sweat?

   • 2018, James Courtney, "Music Picks", San Antonio Current, 4 July 2018, page 39:

     If indie punk, pop-punk, post-punk, and emo happen to be your bag, this early-week show at Paper Tiger is gonna be lit.

   • 2018, Shan Kekahuna, "Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!", MauiTime, 27 December 2018, page 17:

     New Year's Eve is once a year and it's gonna be lit.

   This party is gonna be lit.

5. (slang) Excellent, fantastic; cool.
   • 2017, "Out with the old, in with the new", Dundrum Gazette, 8 June 2017, page 18:

     […] will keep your feet looking lit this summer thanks to the Trainer Exchange.

   • 2019, "Top 10 Plastic Surgeons in Manhattan", Art Bodega Magazine, December/January 2019:

     At his Upper East Side office, the talented doctor has a very lit and elegant office, where art canvasses the walls.

   • 2019, Alice Ridley, "Letter from the Editor", Connect Magazine, October 2019, page 4:

     The fourth article is all about autumnal leaf photography tips to get our Instagram photos looking lit.

   Those jeans are lit.

Synonyms

• (illuminated): lighted, luminous; see also Thesaurus:illuminated or Thesaurus:shining
• (intoxicated): See Thesaurus:stoned or Thesaurus:drunk
• (sexually aroused): See Thesaurus:randy
• (excellent): See Thesaurus:excellent

Derived terms

• half lit
• illlit

Translations

Lighted

• Czech: osvětlený (cs)
• Danish: tændt
• Finnish: valaistu (fi)
• French: allumé (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: beleuchtet (de), angezündet (de)
• Portuguese: iluminado (pt)
• Russian: освещённый (ru) (osveščónnyj)
• Spanish: alumbrado (es) m, iluminado (es) m, aluzado (es) m

Intoxicated or under the influence of drugs; stoned

• Finnish: päihtynyt (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: viajado (es) m, pasado (es) m, drogado (es) m, pedo (es), volado (es), puesto (es) m

Etymology 2

From Middle English lit, lut, from Old English lȳt (“little, few”), from Proto-Germanic *lūtilaz (“little, small”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewd- (“to cower, hunch over”). Cognate with Old Saxon lut (“little”), Middle High German lützen (“to make small or low, decrease”). More at little.

Adjective

lit (comparative litter or more lit, superlative littest or most lit)

1. (obsolete) Little.

Noun

lit (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) Little.

Related terms

• lite

Etymology 3

From Middle English lit, from Old Norse litr (“colour, dye, complexion, face, countenance”), from Proto-Germanic *wlitiz, *wlitaz (“sight, face”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to see”). Cognate with Icelandic litur (“colour”), Old English wlite (“brightness, appearance, form, aspect, look, countenance, beauty, splendor, adornment”), Old English wlītan (“to gaze, look, observe”).

Noun

lit (uncountable)

1. (UK dialectal) Colour; blee; dye; stain.

Derived terms

• lithouse
• litmus

Etymology 4

From Middle English litten, liten, from Old Norse lita (“to colour”), from litr (“colour”). See above.

Verb

1. (transitive) To colour; dye.

Etymology 5

Short for literature.

Noun

lit (uncountable)

1. Clipping of literature.

Derived terms

• chick lit
• lit crit
• litfan
• misery lit
• quit lit

Anagrams

• 'til, TIL, TLI, til

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Faroese

Etymology

From the verb líta (‘to view’)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [liːt]

Noun

lit n (genitive singular lits, uncountable)

1. short wink, view, look

Declension

Declension of lit (singular only)
n3s	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	lit	litið
accusative	lit	litið
dative	liti	litinum
genitive	lits	litsins

Synonyms

• eygnabrá (wink)

Derived terms

• andlit (face)
• álit (trust)
• eftirlit (control)
• fyrilit (caution)
• innlit (insight)
• útlit (outlook)
• yvirlit (overview, summary)

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French

Etymology

From Old French lit, from Latin lectus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /li/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophone: lits

Noun

lit m (plural lits)

1. bed

   Où est-il? Il dort dans son lit. ― Where is he? He's sleeping in his bed.

Derived terms

• cloué au lit
• lit de justice
• lit de sangle

 

Verb

lit

1. third-person singular present indicative of lire

   Jean lit très souvent. ― Jean reads very often.

Further reading

• “lit”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Icelandic

Noun

1. indefinite accusative/dative singular of litur

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Lashi

Noun

lit

1. air

References

• https://inter.payap.ac.th/wp-content/uploads/linguistics_students/Luk_Hkaw_Thesis2017.pdf

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Middle English

Noun

lit (plural *lits)

1. Alternative form of light

References

• “light (n.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-05.

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Norman

Noun

lit m (plural lits)

1. Alternative form of llit (“bed”)

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liːt/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hlít

Noun

lit f (definite singular lita, uncountable)
lit m (definite singular liten, uncountable)

1. trust

   Eg set min lit til Gud.

   I put my trust in God.

Etymology 2

Verb

lit

1. (deprecated template usage) present tense of lita
2. (deprecated template usage) imperative of lita

References

• “lit” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Old French

Etymology

From Latin lectus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lit/

Noun

lit oblique singular, m (oblique plural liz or litz, nominative singular liz or litz, nominative plural lit)

1. bed

Descendants

• French: lit

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Old Norse

Noun

lit n

1. vision
2. sight
3. vision

Related terms

• líta (“to see”)

References

• J.Fritzners ordbok over Det gamle norske sprog, dvs. norrøn ordbok ("J.Fritnzer's dictionary of the old Norwegian language, i.e. Old Norse dictionary"), on lit.

Anagrams

• til

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Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lit/

• audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

Noun

Chemical element
Li
Previous: hel (He)
Next: beryl (Be)

lit m inan

1. lithium
2. (informal) lithium carbonate, a drug used in the treatment of bipolar disorder

Declension

Declension of lit

	singular
nominative	lit
genitive	litu
dative	litowi
accusative	lit
instrumental	litem
locative	licie
vocative	licie

Etymology 2

Noun

1. litas (currency of Lithuania)

Declension

Declension of lit

	singular	plural
nominative	lit	lity
genitive	lita	litów
dative	litowi	litom
accusative	lita	lity
instrumental	litem	litami
locative	licie	litach
vocative	licie	lity

Further reading

• Template:R:PWN

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Scottish Gaelic

Noun

lit f

1. genitive singular of lite

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Swedish

Noun

lit c

1. trust

Declension

Declension of lit
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	lit	liten	—	—
Genitive	lits	litens	—	—

Synonyms

• tillit

See also

• lita

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Volapük

Etymology

Borrowed from German Licht and English light.

Noun

lit (nominative plural lits)

1. light
2. illumination

Declension

declension of lit

	singular	plural
nominative	lit	lits
genitive	lita	litas
dative	lite	lites
accusative	liti	litis
vocative 1	o lit!	o lits!
predicative 2	litu	litus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only

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Westrobothnian

Verb

1. trust, obey, follow someone’s advice

   Lit meg; ji val int ångerköft

   Follow my advice, you will not regret the purchase.

Verb

1. be expensive, heavy; strain

   Hä lit på tulumodä

   It tries the patience.

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Zay

Noun

lit

1. tree-bark

References

• Initial SLLE Survey of the Zway Area by Klaus Wedekind and Charlotte Wedekind