lit

Etymology 1

Replaced earlier light (from Middle English lighte, from Old English līhtte, first and third person singular preterit of līhtan (“to light”)) due to the analogy of bite:bit. More at light; compare fit (“fought”).

verb

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”)
   […] but finally [the bird] came to the tree and, after edging along falteringly, lit on a branch above them. 1896, Florence Merriam Bailey, A-birding on a Bronco, page 87

verb

1. (US, dialectal) To run or light (alight).
   With that the kid lits off down the street, and, what do you know! April 8 1988, Grant Pick, “Johnny Washington's Life”, in Chicago Reader

adj

1. Illuminated.
   He walked down the lit corridor.
2. (slang) Drunk, intoxicated; under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
   True to my word last night, I got very lit. 1932, Hart Crane, letter, 16 February
3. (slang) Sexually aroused (usually of a female), especially visibly sexually aroused.
4. (slang) Exciting, captivating; fun.
   DJ sets so lit the dance floor's dripping with sweat? 2017 November, Justin Allec, Adrian Lysenko, Kirsti Salmi, “Sounds of the City: Part VI”, in The Walleye, page 8
   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. 4 July 2018, James Courtney, “Music Picks”, in San Antonio Current, page 39
   New Year's Eve is once a year and it's gonna be lit. 27 December 2018, Shan Kekahuna, “Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!”, in MauiTime, page 17
   This party is gonna be lit.
5. (slang) Excellent, fantastic; cool.
   […] will keep your feet looking lit this summer thanks to the Trainer Exchange. 8 June 2017, “Out with the old, in with the new”, in Dundrum Gazette, page 18
   At his Upper East Side office, the talented doctor has a very lit and elegant office, where art canvasses the walls. 2019, "Top 10 Plastic Surgeons in Manhattan", Art Bodega Magazine, December/January 2019
   The fourth article is all about autumnal leaf photography tips to get our Instagram photos looking lit. 2019 October, Alice Ridley, “Letter from the Editor”, in Connect Magazine, page 4
   Those jeans are lit.

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.

adj

1. (obsolete) Little.

noun

1. (obsolete) Little.

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

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

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

1. Clipping of literature.
   Do we have any lit homework tonight?