different between chic vs chit

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French chic (“elegant”), probably from German Schick (“elegant appearance; tasteful presentation”), from Middle High German schicken (“to outfit oneself, fit in, arrange appropriately”), causative of Middle High German geschehen, gesch?n (“to happen, rush”), from Old High German giskehan (“to happen”), from Proto-Germanic *skehan? (“to run, move quickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *skek- (“to run, jump, spring”). The word is akin to Dutch schielijk (“hasty”), schikken (“to arrange”), Old English sc?on (“to happen”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: sh?k, IPA^(key): /?i?k/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?ik/
• Rhymes: -i?k
• Homophones: sheik, sheikh (one pronunciation)

Adjective

chic (comparative chicer or more chic, superlative chicest or most chic)

1. Elegant, stylish.

Synonyms

Antonyms

• inelegant, unelegant
• unchic
• unfashionable
• unstylish

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

chic (countable and uncountable, plural chics)

1. (chiefly uncountable) Good form; style.
2. (countable) A person with (a particular type of) chic.

Usage notes

The noun chic is very often used with an attributive noun or adjective modifier, indicating the kind of style, such as “boho-chic”, “heroin chic”, “shabby chic”, and so on.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• chic on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• list of chics on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “‘Chic,’ Its History”, in Notes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc., volume VIII (5th Series), issue 197, London: Published at the office, […] by John Francis, 6 October 1877, pages 261–262.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Yucatec Maya chi?ik (“coati; buffoon”).

Noun

chic (plural chics)

1. A kind of ritual buffoon or clown in Yucatec Maya culture.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French chic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ik/
• Hyphenation: chic
• Rhymes: -ik

Adjective

chic (comparative chiquer, superlative chicst)

1. chic, elegant

   Synonym: sjiek

Inflection

Derived terms

• chic de friemel
• chicheid

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from French chic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??ik/, [??ik]

Adjective

chic (comparative chicimpi, superlative chicein)

1. chic

Declension

French

Etymology

Probably from German Schick (“elegant appearance; tasteful presentation”), from Middle High German schicken (“to outfit oneself, fit in, arrange appropriately”), causative of Middle High German geschehen, gesch?n (“to happen, rush”), from Old High German giskehan (“to happen”), from Proto-Germanic *skehan? (“to run, move quickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *skek- (“to run, jump, spring”). The word is akin to Dutch schielijk (“hasty”), schikken (“to arrange”), Old English sc?on (“to happen”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ik/
• Rhymes: -ik
• Homophones: chics, chique, chiquent, chiques

Adjective

chic (plural chic or chics)

1. elegant
2. considerate

Usage notes

Chic is either used invariably, in which case the spelling of the plural is chic, or has the plural chics for both the masculine and the feminine forms.

Derived terms

• bon chic bon genre

Descendants

• ? Dutch: chic, sjiek
• ? English: chic
• ? Finnish: chic
• ? German: schick
• ? Limburgish: sjiek
• ? Polish: szyk
• ? Portuguese: chique
• ? Spanish: chic

Noun

chic m (plural chic)

1. elegance
2. skillfulness; adroitness

Further reading

• “chic” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??k/
• Rhymes: -?k

Adjective

chic (comparative chicer, superlative am chicsten)

1. Alternative spelling of schick

Usage notes

• While the spelling chic is correct for the uninflected adjective, all inflected forms are nonstandard. Correctly, inflected forms must be derived from the preferred spelling schick.

Declension

Further reading

• “chic” in Duden online

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ç?c/

Noun

chic

1. Lenited form of cic.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French chic.

Adjective

chic (plural chics)

1. elegant

Noun

chic m (uncountable)

1. elegance

Yucatec Maya

Noun

chic

1. Obsolete spelling of chi?ik

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t???t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Etymology 1

From Middle English chitte (“a young animal, cub, whelp”), from Old English *?ytten, *?ietten, *?itten, from Proto-Germanic *kitt?n? (“young animal, fawn, kid”). Cognate with Scots chit (“chit”), Low German kitte (“young animal”), German Kitz (“fawn, kid”). See also kid.

Noun

chit (plural chits)

1. A child or babe; a young, small, or insignificant person or animal.
   • “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?”
2. A pert or sassy young person, especially a young woman.

Etymology 2

From Middle English *chit, *chitte, from Old English ??þ (“germ, seed, sprout, shoot”), from Proto-Germanic *k?þ? (“sprout”), from Proto-Indo-European *??-, *?ey- (“to divide, part, split open, sprout”). Cognate with Middle Dutch kiede (“sprout”), dialectal German Keid (“sprout”). Doublet of scion.

Noun

chit (plural chits)

1. The embryonic growing bud of a plant

   Synonyms: shoot, sprout, 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.
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.

Derived terms

• mini-chitted

Translations

Etymology 3

From chitty, from Hindi ?????? (ci??h?, “letter, note, written message”).

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.
3. (historical) A voucher or token coin used in payrolls under the truck system.

   Synonym: scrip

4. (pharmacology) A small sheet of paper on which is written a prescription to be filled; a scrip.
5. (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.

6. (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.
7. (US, slang) A debt or favor owed in return for a prior loan or favor granted, especially a political favor.

Translations

Etymology 4

Perhaps from specialized technical use of Etymology 2, above, “a bud; an excressence” (Hunter 1882).

Noun

chit (plural chits)

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

Translations

Etymology 5

Euphemistic variation of shit.

Noun

chit (uncountable)

1. (US, slang, euphemistic) Shit.

Interjection

chit

1. (US, slang, euphemistic) Shit.

References

• chit in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “chit”, in Online Etymology Dictionary
• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
• Hunter, Robert (1882) The Encyclopædic Dictionary: A New, and Original Work of Reference to All the Words in the English Language with a Full Account of Their Origin, Meaning, Pronunciation, and Use?^[5], Cassell, Petter, Galpin and Company

Anagrams

• itch, tich

Min Nan

Pnar

Etymology

From Proto-Pnar-Khasi-Lyngngam *?it (“warm”). Cognate with Khasi shit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??it/

Adjective

chit

1. hot

Romanian

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Greek ????? (kítos), partly through the intermediate of Slavic *kit? (cf. Old Church Slavonic ???? (kit?)). Used around the 16th century.

Noun

chit m (plural chi?i)

1. (obsolete) whale, cetacean

Synonyms

• balen?

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French quitte, itself from Latin quietus (and therefore a doublet of the inherited încet). The variant cfit is from German quitt.

Alternative forms

• cfit

Adjective

chit

1. (familiar, used in expressions) free; in peace; having paid ones debt; even

Usage notes

Used as part of colloquial expressions like "a fi chit", meaning "to not owe anyone anything; not indebted to", or "chit c?", meaning "even so, regardless".

Etymology 3

Borrowed from German Kitt.

Noun

chit n (uncountable)

1. putty

See also

• past?