git

See also: GIT, Git, and gît

Translingual

Symbol

git

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Gitxsan.

See also

  • Wiktionary’s coverage of Gitxsan terms

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English get ([illegitimate] offspring). A southern variant of Scots get (illegitimate child, brat), related to beget.[1]

Noun

git (plural gits)

  1. (British, Ireland, slang, derogatory) A silly, incompetent, stupid, or annoying person (usually a man).
    • 1968, “I'm So Tired”, in John Lennon (lyrics), The Beatles, performed by the Beatles:
      Although I'm so tired, I'll have another cigarette / And curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git
    • 1990, House of Cards, season 1, episode 1:
      Bit of a flash git, don't you think?
    • 2000 December 18, BBC and Bafta Tribute to Michael Caine, 16:43-17:05:
      Parkinson: You made films before, but the part that really made your name was Zulu, wasn't it [] and there of course—against type—you played the toff, you played the officer.
      Caine: I played the officer, yeah, and everybody thought I was like that. Everyone was so shocked when they met me, this like Cockney guy had played this toffee-nosed git.
    • 2007, Greg Weston, The Man Upstairs, →ISBN, page 124:
      Eventually God gives the donkey a voice and it says, "why're you beating me you great stupid git? It's the angel with the sword that you gotta be careful of," or words to that effect.
    • 2019, The Stupendium, “What a Fowl Day”:
      Here we see the common domestic goose, Anser cygnoides domesticus. Found across the British countryside, it is known for its distinctive call; proud, majestic stature; and for being an all-round inconsiderate little git!
    • 2020 December 16, Christian Wolmar, “Coverage of little-used stations does the railway no favours”, in RAIL, page 45:
      I'm not being a miserable old git here. I like a laugh as much as anyone, [...].
Usage notes
  • Git is usually used as an insult, more severe than twit but less severe than a true profanity like wanker or arsehole, and may often be used affectionately between friends. Get can also be used, with a subtle change of meaning. "You cheeky get!" is slightly less harsh than "You cheeky git!".
  • Git is frequently used in conjunction with another word to achieve a more specific meaning. For instance a "smarmy git" refers to a person of a slimy, ingratiating disposition; a "jammy git" would be a person with undeserved luck. The phrase "grumpy old git", denoting a cantankerous old man, is used with particular frequency.
  • In parts of northern England, Ireland and Scotland, get is still used in preference to git.
  • The word has been ruled by the Speaker of the House of Commons to be unparliamentary language.[2][3]
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

    Verb

    git (third-person singular simple present gits, present participle gitting, simple past got, past participle gotten)

    1. (now Appalachia, Southern US, African-American Vernacular) Pronunciation spelling of get.
      • 1920 February 15, Wat Tell, “Cabbages and Kings”, in The Wichita Sunday Eagle, volume LXIX, number 69, Wichita, Kan., →OCLC, page 11, column 5:
        She say fust git a dime’s wuth of potatoes; den she say ‘No, git ten cents wuth of beans,’ den she change her min’ agin an’ say git a dime’s wuth of cabbages, an’ suh, when I brung them cabbages home, I’ll be dinged if she didn’t go an’ bang me on the haid with a coolin’ iron fo’ not gittin’ a quatah’s wuth of livah!
    Derived terms

    Interjection

    git

    1. (Appalachia, Southern US, informal) shoo! go away! (used to usher something away, chiefly towards an animal)
      Near-synonyms: go away, leave

    Etymology 3

    Noun

    git (plural gits)

    1. Alternative form of geat (channel in metal casting)

    Etymology 4

    Likely chosen for its shortness and pronounceability, but various other explanations and backronyms were offered after its introduction.

    Proper noun

    git

    1. (computing) Alternative letter-case form of Git, a distributed VCS.

    References

    1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “git”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
    2. ^ Geoffrey Hughes (2006), An encyclopedia of swearing[1], →ISBN, page 477
    3. ^ M. Hunt, Alison Maloney (2006), Joy of Swearing[2], →ISBN

    See also

    Anagrams

    Antigua and Barbuda Creole English

    Verb

    git

    1. to get

    Dutch

    Etymology

    From Middle Dutch git, get, from Latin gagātēs (likely by way of Old French get, jaiet), from Ancient Greek γαγᾱ́της (gagā́tēs), possibly from Γάγας (Gágas, a town and river in Lycia). Doublet of gagaat.

    Pronunciation

    • Audio:(file)

    Noun

    git n or f (plural gitten, diminutive gitje n)

    1. (neuter) lignite
    2. (neuter) jet (black, gemstone-like geological material)
      Synonym: (obsolete) gagaat
    3. (masculine) a stone made of this material

    Derived terms

    References

    French

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ʒi/

    Verb

    git

    1. post-1990 spelling of gît (third-person singular present indicative of gésir)

    Latin

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    git n (indeclinable)

    1. A plant (Nigella sativa), variously named black cumin, Roman coriander, or melanthion.

    References

    • git”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • git”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
    • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book[3], London: Macmillan and Co.
      • my mind forebodes misfortune: animus praesāgit malum

    Middle High German

    Etymology

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): (before 13th CE) /ˈɡiːt/

    Verb

    gīt

    1. alternative form of gibet

    Old English

    Etymology 1

    From Proto-West Germanic *jit, with the *i leveled in from *wit. Further from Proto-Germanic *jut. Cognate with North Frisian jat.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /jit/

    Pronoun

    ġit

    1. (the second-person dual nominative) you two
      • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 20:22
        Þā andswarode him sē Hǣlend: "Ġit nyton hwæs ġit biddaþ."
        Then Jesus answered them: "You two don't know what you're asking for."
    Declension
    Old English personal pronouns
    nominative accusative dative genitive
    singular first person , mec mīn
    second person þū þē, þec þē þīn
    third person neuter hit him his
    masculine hine
    feminine hēo hīe hire
    dual first person wit unc, uncit unc uncer
    second person ġit inc, incit inc incer
    plural first person ūs, ūsiċ ūs ūre, ūser
    second person ġē ēow, ēowiċ ēow ēower
    third person hīe him heora
    Descendants
    • Middle English: ȝit, ȝitt, ȝet

    Etymology 2

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /jiːt/

    Adverb

    ġīt

    1. alternative form of ġīet

    Old Saxon

    Etymology

    From Proto-West Germanic *jit, from Proto-Germanic *jut, remodeled in Proto-Northwest Germanic to *jit by analogy with *wit.

    Pronoun

    git

    1. You two; nominative dual of thū

    Declension

    Old Saxon personal pronouns
    nominative accusative dative genitive
    singular 1st person ik , me, mik mīn
    2nd person thū thī, thik thī thīn
    3rd
    person
    m ina imu is
    f siu sia iru ira
    n it it is
    dual 1st person wit unk unkero, unka
    2nd person git ink inker, inka
    plural 1st person , we ūs, unsik ūs ūser
    2nd person , ge eu, iu, iuu euwar, iuwer, iuwar, iuwero, iuwera
    3rd
    person
    m sia im iro
    f sia
    n siu

    Polish

    Etymology

    Borrowed from Yiddish גוט (gut).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈɡit/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Rhymes: -it
    • Syllabification: git
    • Homophone: gid

    Adjective

    git (not comparable, no derived adverb)

    1. (colloquial) just right
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:dobry

    Adverb

    git (not comparable)

    1. (colloquial) there you go
      Synonyms: fajnie, gitara, gites

    Interjection

    git

    1. (colloquial) excellent!

    Noun

    git m pers

    1. (prison slang) member of a prison subculture that occupies the highest position in the internal hierarchy

    Declension

    Derived terms

    adjectives
    nouns
    adjectives
    • gitesowy
    adverbs
    • gitesowo
    • gitnie
    • gitowo

    Further reading

    • git in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
    • git in Polish dictionaries at PWN
    • Klemens Stępniak; Zbigniew Podgórzec (2013), Słownik gwar przestępczych [Dictionary of criminal slangs] (in Polish), Kraków: Mireki, →ISBN, page 103

    Rohingya

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    git

    1. song

    Turkish

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈɡit/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Hyphenation: git

    Verb

    git

    1. second-person singular imperative of gitmek

    Vilamovian

    Noun

    git f

    1. goodness

    Volapük

    Noun

    git (genitive gita, plural gits)

    1. law (body of binding rules and regulations, customs and standards)

    Declension

    Declension of git
    singular plural
    nominative git gits
    genitive gita gitas
    dative gite gites
    accusative giti gitis
    vocative 1 o git! o gits!
    predicative 2 gitu gitus

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

    Derived terms

    • gitav (jurisprudence)
    • gitavan (jurist)
    • gitavik (juristic)
    • gitik (juridicial)
    • gitod (justification)
    • gitäd (judiciary)
    • gität (right)
    • gitätön (have the right)
    • gitöf (legitimacy)
    • gitöfik (legitimate)