sit

Etymology 1

From Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, from Proto-West Germanic *sittjan, from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“sit”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian sitte, Low German sitten, Dutch zitten, German sitzen, Swedish sitta, Norwegian Bokmål sitte, Norwegian Nynorsk sitja; and with Irish suigh, Latin sedeo, Russian сиде́ть (sidétʹ).

verb

1. (intransitive, copulative, of a person) To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks.
   1460-1500, The Towneley Playsː He is so fair, without lease, he seems full well to sit on this.
   After a long day of walking, it was good just to sit and relax.
2. (intransitive, of a person) To move oneself into such a position.
   I asked him to sit.
3. (intransitive, of an object) To occupy a given position.
   The temple has sat atop that hill for centuries.
   Jim's pet parrot sat on his left shoulder.
   The Yellow Sea sits between the Korean Peninsula and China. Audio (US) (file) 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)
4. (intransitive, copulative) To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition.
5. (government) To be a member of a deliberative body.
   I currently sit on a standards committee.
6. (law, government) Of a legislative or, especially, a judicial body such as a court, to be in session.
   In what city is the circuit court sitting for this session.
7. To lie, rest, or bear; to press or weigh.
8. To be adjusted; to fit.
   Your new coat sits well.
9. (intransitive, of an agreement or arrangement) To be accepted or acceptable; to work.
   How will this new contract sit with the workers?
   I don’t think it will sit well.
   The violence in these video games sits awkwardly with their stated aim of educating children.
10. (transitive, causative) To cause to be seated or in a sitting posture; to furnish a seat to.
    Sit him in front of the TV and he might watch for hours.
11. (transitive) To accommodate in seats; to seat.
    The dining room table sits eight comfortably.
    I sat me weary on a pillar's base, / And leaned against the shaft 1899, James Thomson, “The City of Dreadful Night”, in The City of Dreadful Night and Other Poems, page 43
12. (US, transitive, intransitive) To babysit.
    I'm going to sit for them on Thursday.
    I need to find someone to sit my kids on Friday evening for four hours.
13. (transitive, Australia, New Zealand, UK) To take, to undergo or complete (an examination or test).
14. To cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl; to brood; to incubate.
15. To take a position for the purpose of having some artistic representation of oneself made, such as a picture or a bust.
    I'm sitting for a painter this evening.
16. To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position; to have direction.
    like a good miller that knows how to grind, which way soever the wind sits 1689, John Selden, Table Talk
17. (obsolete, transitive) To keep one's seat when faced with (a blow, attack); to endure, to put up with.
    Louisa, who […] had but ill born the commencement of this conversation, could sit it no longer, and hastily throwing up the sash, complained of the intense heat of the room. 1790, Amelia Opie, chapter 5, in Dangers of Coquetry, volume I

noun

1. (mining) Subsidence of the roof of a coal mine.
2. (rare, Buddhism) An event, usually lasting one full day or more, where the primary goal is to sit in meditation.

Etymology 2

noun

1. (informal) Short for situation.
   The increasing scope of the disaster was relayed in short, terse sentences whose brevity does not conceal the unfolding nightmare. […] In mid-afternoon at 1600: “Sit is getting worse; need help badly,” “have considerable number of wounded that are unable to evacuate.” 2012, Gail Shisler, For Country and Corps: The Life of General Oliver P. Smith