different between litten vs mitten

English

Etymology

Pseudo-archaic formation from lit +? -en.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?t?n

Verb

litten

1. (archaic) past participle of light
   • 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, The Whisperer in Darkness, chapter 7:

     They’ve been inside the earth, too—there are openings which human beings know nothing of—some of them in these very Vermont hills—and great worlds of unknown life down there; blue-litten K’n-yan, red-litten Yoth, and black, lightless N’kai.

Derived terms

• moonlitten
• starlitten

Anagrams

• TELINT, lettin'

German

Pronunciation

Verb

litten

1. inflection of leiden:
   1. first/third-person plural preterite
   2. first/third-person plural subjunctive II

English

Etymology

From Middle English myten, mitaine, from Old French mitan, miton, mitaine (“mitten”, literally “half-glove”) (Modern French mitaine), from Frankish *mitamo, *mittamo (“half”), superlative of *mitti (“midpoint”), from Proto-Germanic *midjô, *midj? (“middle, center”), from Proto-Indo-European *méd?yos (“between, in the middle, center”). Cognate with Old High German mittamo, metemo (“half, in the middle”), Old Dutch medemest (“midmost”), Old English medume (“average, moderate, medium”). More at mid, middle.

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?tn?/
• (Southern England, Western New England) IPA^(key): /?m??n?/
• Rhymes: -?t?n

Noun

mitten (plural mittens)

1. A type of glove or garment that covers a hand with a separate sheath for the thumb, but not for other fingers, which are either enclosed in a single section or left uncovered.
2. A cat's or dog's paw that is a different colour from the main body.

   Synonym: sock

3. (colloquial, dated, as "the mitten") A romantic rejection; dismissal of a lover.

   to give someone the mitten; to get the mitten

4. (slang, chiefly in the plural) A boxing glove.

Translations

Verb

mitten (third-person singular simple present mittens, present participle mittening, simple past and past participle mittened)

1. (transitive) To dress in mittens; to put a mitten on.

Anagrams

• titmen

German

Pronunciation

Adverb

mitten

1. In the middle.

Related terms

• inmitten
• zumitten

Further reading

• “mitten” in Duden online

Swedish

Noun

mitten

1. definite singular of mitt