English

Noun

chit ‎(plural chits)

1. A child or babe; a young, small, or insignificant person or animal.
   • 1857-59, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Virginians, Chapter ,

     Madam was a little chit of a woman, not five feet in her highest headdress and shoes, and Mr. Washington a great tall man of six feet two.

   • 1922, Petronius Arbiter, Satyricon, translated by W. C. Firebaugh, Chapter 56,

     “These are returns,” I said, “quite fit

     To me, who nursed you when a chit.

     For shame, lay by this envious art;

     Is this to act a sister's part?”

   • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty, Bloomsbury, 2005, Chapter 4,

     […] he seemed to come forward from an era of sexual defiance and fighting alliances and to cast a dismissive eye over a little chit like Nick, who had never fought for anything.

2. A pert or sassy young person, especially a young woman.

Etymology 2

From Middle English *chit, *chitte, from Old English ċīþ ‎(“germ, seed, sprout, shoot”), from Proto-Germanic *kīþą ‎(“sprout”), from Proto-Indo-European *ĝī-, *ĝey- ‎(“to divide, part, split open, sprout”). Cognate with Middle Dutch kiede ‎(“sprout”), German dialectal Keid ‎(“sprout”). Related to chine.

Noun

chit ‎(plural chits)

1. The embryonic growing bud of a plant; a shoot; a sprout; a seedling.

   the chits of Indian corn or of potatoes

2. (obsolete) An excrescence on the body, as a wart or a pimple.

Translations

Verb

chit ‎(third-person singular simple present chits, present participle chitting, simple past and past participle chitted)

1. (intransitive, Britain, dialect) To sprout; to shoot, as a seed or plant.
   • Mortimer

     I have known barley chit in seven hours after it had been thrown forth.

2. (transitive, Britain, dialect) To damage the outer layers of a seed such as Lupinus or Sophora to assist germination.
3. (transitive, Britain, dialect) To initiate sprouting of tubers, such as potatoes, by placing them in special environment, before planting into the soil.
   • 2012, Growing Your Own Fruit and Veg For Dummies, UK Edition, page 173

     Gardeners argue among themselves about how necessary chitting is, but I do chit my seed potatoes.

Derived terms

• mini-chitted

Translations

Etymology 3

From chitty from Hindi चिट्ठी ‎(ciṭṭhī, “letter, note”) or चिट्टी ‎(ciṭṭī, “letter, chit, written message”), possibly from Sanskrit चित्ति ‎(citti, “thoughts”).

Noun

chit ‎(plural chits)

1. (US and Britain dated) A small sheet or scrap of paper with a hand-written note as a reminder or personal message.
2. A voucher or token coin used in payrolls under the truck system; scrip.
3. (pharmacology) A small sheet of paper on which is written a prescription to be filled; a scrip.
4. (gaming) A smaller cardboard counter generally used not to directly represent something but for another, more transient, purpose such as tracking or randomization.
   • 2005, The unofficial, updated Third Edition of the Magic Realm Rules, by Richard Hamblen, Teresa Michelsen and Stephen McKnight

     1.4.3 Also on the board, but turned face down at the beginning of the game, are chits representing treasure sites and sounds and warnings of monsters that may arrive on the map. When characters end a turn in the hex, these chits are revealed. As characters move around the board, more and more of these chits will be revealed, letting the players know where monsters and treasures are to be found.

5. (India, China) A signed voucher or memorandum of a small debt, as for food and drinks at a club.
   • 1901, Falk, by Joseph Conrad

     He just longed to get away from here and try his luck somewhere else, but for the sake of his sister he hung on and on till he ran himself into debt over his ears—I can tell you. I, myself, could show a handful of his chits for meals and drinks in my drawer.

6. (US, slang) A debt or favor owed in return for a prior loan or favor granted, especially a political favor.
   • 2007, New York Times,

     And he is cashing in chits for her that Mr. Gore, post-impeachment, never asked him to do.

   • 2003, Linda Fairstein, The Bone Vault, Scribner, p98:

     Harry would call in a chit with some desk manager who owed him a favor.

Translations

Etymology 4

Noun

chit ‎(plural chits)

1. A small tool used in cleaving laths. Compare: froe.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

Translations

Etymology 5

Euphemistic variation of ****

Noun

chit ‎(uncountable)

1. (US, slang, euphemistic) ****.

Interjection

chit

1. (US, slang, euphemistic) ****.

References

• chit in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• “chit” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967

Anagrams

• itch
• tich