sitting

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

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.
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.

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

1. present participle and gerund of sit

adj

1. Executed from a sitting position.
2. Occupying a specific official or legal position; incumbent.
   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. 2013-06-22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70
   It is an iron rule of French politics that sitting presidents are detested. 2022-04-08, John Lichfield, “Get ready for a scary fortnight in French politics: a Le Pen presidency really is possible”, in The Guardian