sitten

See also: Sitten

English

Alternative forms

• sittin

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪtən

Etymology 1

From Middle English siten, seten, from Old English seten, ġeseten, past participle of sittan (“to sit”). Cognate with Dutch gezeten, German gesessen.

Verb

sitten

1. (archaic, Britain dialectal) past participle of sit; alternative form of sat
   • 1810, Legh Richmond, The fathers of the English church:

     For though we your brethren, who heretofore by our vocation have sitten in the chair of Moses, and be ghostly captains as Moses and Joshua unto you; [...]

Adjective

sitten (comparative more sitten, superlative most sitten)

1. (Britain dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Seated.
   • a1513, W. Dunbar, Poems (1998) 155:

     The tailȝeour was no thing weill sittin, He left the sadill.

   • c1560, A. Scott, Poems (S.T.S.) ii. 38:

     He micht counter Will on horss, For Sym wes bettir sittin Nor Will.

2. Settled; stationary; not easily stirred or moved.
   • 1671, J. Livingston, Let. to Parishoners Ancram 15:

     Their fire edge might help to kindle-up old sitten-up professours.

Derived terms

• well-sitten
• sitten-up

Etymology 2

From Middle English sitten, equivalent to sit +‎ -en.

Verb

sitten

1. (obsolete) plural simple present form of sit
   • 1579, Edmund Spenser, The Shepheardes Calender

     Such merimake holy saints doth queme,

     But we here sytten as drownd in a dreme.

   • 1593, Michael Drayton, The Shepherd's Garland

     This were as good as curds for our Jone,

     When at a night we sitten by the fire.

   • 1659, Henry More, The Immortality of the Soul, Book I, Canto IV:

     While as they sitten soft in the sweet rayes

     Or vitall vest of the lives generall,

   • 1738, Rev. John Whalley

     Then listen, Thenot, to my mournful lay,

     As wee these willows sitten here emong;

Anagrams

• ettins, settin', teints, testin'

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Finnish

Etymology

Likely from siittä and siten. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: sit‧ten
• IPA^(key): /ˈsitːen/

Adverb

sitten

1. then (when referring to temporal, logical or other order)

   Maksa sitten verelläsi!

   Then pay with your blood!

2. when or whenever (in the expression "sitten, kun")

   Sitten, kun jään eläkkeelle...

   When I retire...

   Lähdemme sitten, kun olet valmis.

   We’ll go whenever you’re ready.

3. used in some expressions for intensifying questions

   entä sitten? ― so what?

   mitä sitten? ― then what?

4. ago

   kauan sitten ― long time ago

   tunti sitten ― one hour ago

5. acts as an emphatic modifier for tahansa ... -kin expressions used to mean "whatever", "whoever"...

   Kenelle tahansa sen sitten annatkin, älä anna sitä minulle.

   Whomever you give it to, don't give it to me.

Preposition

sitten (+ genitive)

1. since

   Emme ole tavanneet sitten viime vuoden.

   We haven't met since last year.

Anagrams

• sentit, sentti, sentti-

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Low German

Etymology

From Middle Low German sitten, Old Saxon sittian, from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sed-. Cognate with Dutch zitten, German sitzen, English sit, West Frisian sitte, Danish sidde.

Verb

sitten (past singular seet, past participle seten, auxiliary verb hebben)

1. to sit

Conjugation

Conjugation of sitten (class 5 strong verb)

infinitive	sitten
indicative	present	preterite
1st person singular	sitt	seet
2nd person singular	sitts(t)	seets(t)
3rd person singular	sitt(t)	seet
plural	sittt, sitten	seten
imperative	present	—
singular	sitt
plural	sittt
participle	present	past
	sitten	(e)seten, geseten
Note: This conjugation is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects.

• The plural present indicative sittt is also spelled sitt't.

Usage note:

• The conjugation given is for a dialect which merges all open-mid and close-open vowels and apocopates /ə/. As such it is lacking many distinctions which are grammatical in other dialects.

Basic forms in Münsterland:

• infinitive: sitten ((to) sit)
• third person singular present indicative: sitt (sits)
• first and third person singular past indicative: satt (sat)
• third person plural past indicative: sätten (sat)
• past participle: siäten (sat)

References

• G. Ungt: Twee Geschichten in Mönstersk Platt. Ossmanns Jans in de Friümde un Ossmanns Jans up de Reise. Münster, 1861.

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Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *sitten, from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sed-.

Verb

sitten

1. to sit, to be seated
2. to sit down
3. to settle (of a sore)
4. to be located, to be present
5. to reside, to live

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: zitten
• Limburgish: zitte

Further reading

• “sitten (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “sitten (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

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Middle English

Etymology

From Old English sittan.

Verb

sitten

1. to sit

Descendants

• English: sit