sitting

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪtɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪtɪŋ
• Hyphenation: sit‧ting

Etymology 1

From Middle English sittyng, sittynge, equivalent to sit +‎ -ing. Cognate with Dutch zitting (“a sitting, session”), German Sitzung (“a sitting, session”), Swedish sittning (“a sitting, session”).

Noun

sitting (plural sittings)

1. A period during which one is seated for a specific purpose.

   Due to the sheer volume of guests, we had to have two sittings for the meal.

   The Queen had three sittings for her portrait.

2. A seance or other session with a medium or fortuneteller.
   • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

     "It's not always easy to get him, and of course a small fee, a guinea I think, is usual, but if you wanted a sitting I could work it." "You think him genuine?" Atkinson shrugged his shoulders.

3. A special seat allotted to a seat-holder, at church, etc.
4. The part of the year in which judicial business is transacted.
5. A legislative session (in the sense of "meeting", not "period").
6. The incubation of eggs by a bird.
7. A clutch of eggs laid by a brooding bird.

   we have thirty-four chicks from eight sittings of eggs

8. Uninterrupted application to anything for a time; the period during which one continues at anything.

Derived terms

• fence-sitting
• in one sitting
• trip sitting
• W-sitting

 

Translations

a period during which one is seated for a specific purpose

• Bulgarian: разполагане (bg) n (razpolagane), позиране (bg) n (pozirane)
• Catalan: seguda (ca) f
• German: Sitzung (de) f
• Japanese: 座 (ja)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: دانیشتن (danîştin)

  Northern Kurdish: rûniştin (ku) f

• Maori: nohoanga
• Russian: присест (ru) (prisest)
• Scottish Gaelic: suidhe m
• Spanish: sentada (es) f
• Swedish: sittning (sv) c

a legislative session

• Bulgarian: сесия (bg) f (sesija)
• German: Sitzung (de) f
• Malay: persidangan (ms)
• Maori: tūnga
• Scottish Gaelic: suidhe m
• Swedish: session (sv) c

incubation of eggs; the clutch of eggs under a brooding bird

• Bulgarian: мътене (bg) n (mǎtene)
• German: Brüten n, Gelege (de) n
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: kurkbûn (ku) f

• Scottish Gaelic: suidhe m gur m
• Swedish: ruvning c

Etymology 2

From Middle English sittinge, sittynge, variant of sittinde, sittende, sittande, from Old English sittende (“sitting”), from Proto-Germanic *sitjandz (“sitting”), present participle of Proto-Germanic *sitjaną (“to sit”), equivalent to sit +‎ -ing. Cognate with West Frisian sittend (“sitting”), Dutch zittend (“sitting”), German sitzend (“sitting”), Swedish sittande (“sitting”), Icelandic sitjandi (“sitting”).

Verb

sitting

1. present participle and gerund of sit

Derived terms

• sitting pretty

Adjective

sitting (not comparable)

1. Executed from a sitting position.
2. Occupying a specific official or legal position; incumbent.
   • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist‎^[1], volume 407, number 8841, page 70:

     Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. […] Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.

   • 2022 April 8, John Lichfield, “Get ready for a scary fortnight in French politics: a Le Pen presidency really is possible”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     It is an iron rule of French politics that sitting presidents are detested.

Derived terms

• non-sitting
• nonsitting
• sitting duck
• sitting service
• sitting tenant

 

References

• “sitting”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Gittins

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• sitjing

Noun

sitting f (definite singular sittinga, indefinite plural sittingar, definite plural sittingane)

1. the act of sitting

References

• “sitting” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.