fit

Etymology 1

Possibly from Middle English fit (“an adversary of equal power”).

adj

1. Suitable, proper.
   You have nothing to say about it. I'll do exactly as I see fit.
   He had drunk more than was fit for him, and he was singing some light song, when he saw approaching, as he said, the pale horse mentioned in the Revelation, with Death seated as the rider. 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
   The rest we'll leave to be examined later, if we think fit; 2005, Lesley Brown, Sophist, translation of original by Plato, 243d
2. Adapted to a purpose or environment.
   survival of the fittest
3. In good shape; physically well.
   You don't have to be a good climber for Kilimanjaro, but you do have to be fit.
4. (Britain, informal, chiefly slang) Sexually attractive; good-looking; fanciable.
   I think the girl working in the office is fit.
   I think you are really fit / You're fit but my gosh don't you know it. 2004, Mike Skinner (lyrics and music), “Fit but You Know It”, in A Grand Don't Come for Free, performed by The Streets
   I said I'd rather be with your friends, mate, cos they are much fitter. 2007, “Foundations”, in Kate Nash, Paul Eppworth (lyrics), Made of Bricks, performed by Kate Nash
5. Prepared; ready.

verb

1. (transitive) To be suitable for.
   It fits the purpose.
   The speaker should be certain that his subject fits the occasion. 1918, Richard Dennis Teall Hollister, Speech-making, publ. George Wahr, pg. 81
2. (intransitive) To have sufficient space available at some location to be able to be there.
   Ten clowns fit in the car, but not a hundred.
   A grain of sand will fit in the cave, but an elephant will not.
3. (transitive) To conform to in size and shape.
   The small shirt doesn't fit me, so I'll buy the medium size.
   If I lose a few kilos, the gorgeous wedding dress might fit me.
4. (intransitive) To be of the right size and shape
   Even though in a way you let him freeze to death in the water, because the way I see it... I agree. Y'know, I think he actually could have fitted on that bit of door. There was plenty of room on the raft. I know. I know, I know. February 2 2016, Kate Winslet et al., Jimmy Kimmel Live!
   I wanted to borrow my little sister's jeans, but they didn't fit.
   That plug fit into the other socket, but it won't go in this one.
5. (transitive, with to) To make conform in size and shape.
   I want to fit the drapes to the windows.
   1. (transitive) To tailor; to change to the appropriate size.
      I had a suit fitted by the tailor.
6. (transitive) To be in agreement with.
   These definitions fit most of the usage.
   Type D half-lines ending in words of this type are analysed by Hutcheson as ending in two completely unstressed syllables. That analysis must be descriptively correct for, say, the 10th cent.; whether it would have fitted the facts in the 8th cent. is much less clear. 14 October 2004, Don Ringe, “Old English maþelian, mæþlan, mǣlan”, in J. H. W. Penney, editor, Indo-European Perspectives: Studies in Honour of Anna Morpurgo Davies, Oxford University Press, page 427
7. (transitive) To adjust.
   The regression program fit a line to the data.
8. (transitive) To attach, especially when requiring exact positioning or sizing.
   Williams had a problem fitting his left rear tyre and that left Alonso only 3.1secs adrift when he rejoined from his final stop three laps later. May 13, 2012, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, in BBC Sport
9. (transitive) To equip or supply.
   The chandler will fit us with provisions for a month.
10. (transitive) To make ready.
    I'm fitting the ship for a summer sail home.
    Thirty years ago, if a girl wished for training, there was none to be had. I can truly say there was no training to be had to fit a woman thoroughly for any life whatever. 1871, Florence Nightingale, Una and the Lion, page 12
11. (intransitive, archaic) To be seemly.
12. To be proper or becoming.
13. (intransitive) To be in harmony.
    The paint, the fabrics, the rugs all fit.

noun

1. The degree to which something fits.
   This shirt is a bad fit.
   Since he put on weight, his jeans have been a tight fit.
2. Conformity of elements one to another.
   It's hard to get a good fit using second-hand parts.
3. The part of an object upon which anything fits tightly.
4. (advertising) Measure of how well a particular commercial execution captures the character or values of a brand.
   The Wonder Bread advertising research results showed the “White Picket Fence” commercial had strong fit ratings.
5. (statistics) Goodness of fit.
6. (bridge) The quality of a partnership's combined holding of cards in a suit, particularly of trump.
   During the auction, it is often a partnership's goal to find an eight-card major suit fit.

Etymology 2

Unknown, possibly from Old English fitt (“song”), or from the sense of fitted to length. Compare Old Saxon *fittea (attested in the borrowed Latin vittea).

noun

1. (archaic) A section of a poem or ballad.
   Dr. Percy has written a long ballad in many fits. 1771, Samuel Johnson, "Letter to Bennet Langton, Esq. (March 20)," in James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), vol 2

Etymology 3

Unknown, possibly from Old English fitt (“conflict”). Compare Cornish fit (“game match, bout”); or else, probably cognate with Italian fitta (“pain, especially sudden and stabbing pain”). See more at Latin fīgere.

noun

1. A seizure or convulsion.
   My grandfather died after having a fit.
2. (medicine) A sudden and vigorous appearance of a symptom over a short period of time.
3. A sudden outburst of emotion.
   He had a laughing fit which lasted more than ten minutes.
   She had a fit and threw all of his clothes out through the window.
   He threw a fit when his car broke down.
4. A sudden burst (of an activity).
   A fit of spring-cleaning led Eric Brooks to a box of old newspaper clips from 1997. July 9, 2007, Ryan J. Foley, “Wisconsin city^s largest employer threatens to leave over ethanol”, in Associated Press

verb

1. (intransitive, medicine) To suffer a fit.
   A spokesman said: "It is believed they (the dogs) got into the lake and drank from it. They came out and started fitting. Shortly after that three of them died and vets are attempting to resuscitate the other one." 18 May 2016, “Three dogs die and seven more ill after drinking from the same Kent lake amid contamination fears”, in The Telegraph

Etymology 4

Formed from fight on the model of bite:bit and light:lit.

verb

1. (African-American Vernacular, Southern US, dated) simple past and past participle of fight; fought.
   c. 19th century, unknown author, Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho Joshua fit the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down
   He didn't just set around and try to out sweettalk somebody; he got out and out-fit somebody. He wouldn't be blowing when he told his boys how he fit for the woman he got. a. 1940, Mildred Haun, “Shin-Bone Rocks”, in The Hawk's Done Gone, page 218

Etymology 5

Clipping of outfit

noun

1. (slang) An outfit, a set of clothing.
   How do you like the fit?