sittingn.
/ˈsɪtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈsɪdɪŋ/ 1. † b. The order or position in which individuals are seated as part of a formal seating arrangement (at a table, in a court, etc.); a sitting place within such an arrangement. Obsolete.† c. With reference to a seat: the fact of being sat in or occupied. Obsolete.† d. With of. The position or bearing of something; the way in which an item of clothing fits or is worn (cf. sit v. 22); the direction in which the wind blows (cf. sit v. 24a). Obsolete.
a. The action of sit v. (in various senses); the fact of being seated; an instance of this. Cf. sitting down n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of sitting > [noun]
sittingeOE
seatc1175
sitting down1495
session1615
eOE Royal Psalter cxxxviii. 2 Tu cognouisti sessionem meam et resurrectionem meam : ðu ancneowe sittinge mine & ærist mine.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 123 Hwat oðer god kimeð of þis anli sittunge. þet ieremie spekeð of.
c1350 Psalter (BL Add. 17376) in K. D. Bülbring Earliest Compl. Eng. Prose Psalter (1891) cxxxviii. 1 Lord,..þou knewe..my sittyng and my risynge.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Lament. iii. 63 The sitting..and the aȝeen rising of hem see; Y am the salm of hem.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 1038 But þou maist seyn þe man sit not þerfore, That þyn opynyon of his sittyng soth is, But raþer for þe man sit þer byfore, Therfore is þyn opynyon soth ywys.
c1450 (c1400) Julian of Norwich Revelations Divine Love: Shorter Version (1978) 74 (MED) This was a singulere ioye..to me that I sawe hym sitte, for the behaldynge of this sittynge schewed to me sikernes of his endelesse dwellynge.
a1525 (a1473) Syon Additions Brethren (St. Paul's Cathedral 5) in J. Hogg Rewyll Seynt Sauioure (1980) III. xix. 55 The lay brethren..keping the same stondyngis and syttyngis that the quer doth.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxix. 198 Is the skill in sitting of an horse no honour at home?
1618 J. Halyday in J. Adamson Muses Welcome 288 That Romish Idol, the whore of Babel might resent of her too too presumptuous sitting in the Kirk of God in Gods owne chaire.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 107 Without the highest attain'd Will be for thee no sitting, or not long On David's Throne. View more context for this quotation
1700 T. Bennet Answer Dissenters Pleas 170 Some convenient posture, such as Kneeling, Sitting, Discumbing, Standing.
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 105 Fools are fain of flitting, and wise Men of sitting.
1730 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum at Siege The Sitting or Encampment of an Army round a Place.
1818 W. Ward View Hindoos (ed. 2) I. v. 349 In the hŭt'hŭ-yogŭ, the suppression and expression of the breath, and a peculiar posture in sitting, are the two principal things required.
1874 J. S. Blackie On Self-culture 41 Why should a student indulge so much in the lazy and unhealthy habit of sitting?
1914 J. H. Bancroft Posture of School Children xii. 111 A fundamental direction for correct sitting is to push back in the chair as far as possible before leaning backward.
1993 T. Kirksmith Western Performance ix. 224 You'll turn Primo with a leading rein, check him by sitting, push off your stirrup and use a two-point for the sprints.
2014 Guardian 14 June 10/2 Ground-level window ledges are increasingly studded to prevent sitting.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > honour > [noun] > precedence > order of precedence
sittingc1400
c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 108 (MED) A man be meke..ȝif he be furst in werk among his peris and last in ordre..furst in seruinge and last in sittinge.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 958 And eek that euery wight in his degree Haue his estat in sittyng and seruyse.
c1475 Antichrist & Disciples in J. H. Todd Three Treat. J. Wycklyffe (1851) p. cxxvii Þei wolen sitt ful hiȝe in furst sittyngis at þe sopers.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer i. f. cccxxxv Suche persons as louen the first syttynges at feestes, the highest stoles in churches & in hal.
1595 W. Phiston Estate of Germaine Empire sig. E2v The Sitting and Orders of the Officers of the Empyre which be distinguished into three Courtes.
1615 E. Grimeston tr. P. d'Avity Estates 608 The order and sitting of the Electors, Noblemen, and Embassadours in the Councell held in the Rommer, or Town-house.
a1650 ( in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (1790) 112 The sitting of all Dukes, Earles, and Barons sonnes.
1759 W. Harte Hist. Life Gustavus Adolphus II. 76 The high-chancellor of Poland, at his first entrance into the chamber (where a triangular table was placed in order to avoid precedence in sitting) began thus [etc.].
1836 tr. in Brit. & Foreign State Papers 1832–3 62 The arrangement as to precedence, in sitting in the Upper Chamber, shall be regulated..by lot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > [noun] > fact of being occupied
sittinga1450
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Merlin (1904) I. l. 4490 They..axeden..Why that place was voyde of syttyng, And why that som good man mihte not sytten there.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > [noun] > manner of carrying body
bearinga1325
gesturec1410
gest1509
shapea1577
sitting1583
carriage1595
comportment1605
deportment1638
poise1771
set-up1889
tenue1892
1583 H. Howard Defensatiue sig. i Seruile flatterie, which some count learned skyll, to shifte their sailes according to the sitting of the wind.
1607 T. Middleton Michaelmas Terme iii. sig. E2 Tayl. How like you the sitting of this gowne now Mistris Comings? Com. It sits at meruailous good Ease, and comely discretion.
a1669 J. Howard Eng. Mounsieur (1674) iv. iii. 48 No English man that does not absolutely abandon his dull English nature, can ever be a competent Judge of the sitting of Tops, or the garniture of Cloaths, or mounting of Feathers.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 9. ⁋3 Miss..immediately at her Glass, alters the Sitting of her Head.
1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. IV. 134 The vanes for showing the sitting of the wind, represent stags instead of cocks.
1816 J. Austen Emma II. iv. 69 His air as he walked by the house—the very sitting of his hat. View more context for this quotation
2.
a. The action of birds in sitting on eggs so as to incubate and hatch them. Also occasionally: an instance of this. Cf. brooding n. 1a.In quot. 1830 in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > egg > [noun] > incubation
sittinga1398
broodingc1440
incumbency1651
hovering1672
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. xii. i. 598 Þilke þat beþ colde and moyste of kynde vsiþ mareys and ryuers for gedryng of mete and for makynge nestis, for sittynge on broode [L. pullificationem] and for to brynge vp [and norische vp] here briddes.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 25 Þe egges bringges furth briddes withouten sittyng of hen.
c1475 (c1399) Mum & Sothsegger (Cambr. Ll.4.14) (1936) iii. l. 39 In þe somer seson whan sittinge nyeth, Þat ich foule with his fere folwith his kynde.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Incubatio, lyenge in, syttynge to hatche egges.
1581 J. Maplet Diall Destiny 57 They [sc. doves] assist busily and help one another carefully in sitting.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Couvement, a brooding, sitting on.
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis i. iv. 79 Land-Fowl..for the most part lay a considerable number of Eggs for one sitting.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 128. ¶3 The Male [Bird]..amuses and diverts her [sc. the Hen] with his Songs during the whole Time of her Sitting.
1787 G. Morris Let. 12 Nov. in J. Sparks Life G. Morris (1832) I. 292 [They] are really the foolishest geese I ever beheld, for they choose all times for sitting but the spring.
1830 R. Southey in Fraser's Mag. Apr. 256 With amianth he [sc. the dragon] lined the nest,..To bear the fiery sitting.
1854 L. A. Meall Moubray's Treat. Poultry 425 For sitting, the newest [eggs] are to be preferred.
1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber i. i. 9 The ‘scrub fowl’..wastes no valuable time in the dead-and-alive duty of sitting.
1958 Wilson Bull. 70 81 All of that bird's attentive periods during incubation were much shorter than the sittings during which she laid her eggs.
2011 P. Riggs et al. Keeping Chickens For Dummies 266 You can delay a hen's sitting by leaving just one or two eggs in the nest.
b. In poultry farming: a number of eggs placed under a sitting bird for incubation; (also) a clutch. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > poultry-keeping > [noun] > clutch of eggs
ovation1656
sitting1833
seat1892
1833 Mag. Nat. Hist. 6 211 If the first sitting of eggs be taken from a duck, she will generally lay a second time.
1895 F. T. Elworthy Evil Eye 406 A sitting of eggs is a number just as well known as a baker's dozen—thirteen.
1902 Poultry Keeper 15 July 128/1 Had three sittings under good broody hens. Out of two sittings got five chicks.
1938 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 125 26 In 1935..from over fifty sittings of eggs, only fifteen chicks in all were reared to maturity.
2007 M. Mac Con Imoaire & A. Cully in R. Hosking Eggs in Cookery 140 The scheme distributed pullets and cockerels and recommended distributing sittings of eggs of the Andalusian and Leghorn varieties.
3. † c. In the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers): a meeting or assembly for worship held for members of a family by a visiting minister. Obsolete.
a. An official meeting or session of a judicial, legislative, or deliberative body; deliberation by such a body, or the fact of being engaged in this; the period of time during which such a body is in session.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > [noun] > sitting of
sittingc1410
session1444
access1587
diet1587
session1613
sederunt1628
seat1635
séance1789
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > [noun] > sitting of > day or period of
sitting day1605
sitting1660
c1410 (c1350) Gamelyn (Harl. 7334) l. 745 I bidde him to maympris þat þou graunt him me Til þe nexte sittyng of delyueraunce.
a1425 (?c1350) Ywain & Gawain (1964) l. 3446 It es þe assyse, Whils sityng es of þe justise.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccxl The eight daye of Aprill was the thirde sytting of the fathers in the Counsell at Trent.
1598 in F. J. Furnivall Child-marriages, Divorces, & Ratifications Diocese Chester (1897) 173 It is fuly Concluded..at this, her Maiesties generall Sessions, by the said Justices in their open Sessions and full sittinge.
1635 Maldon (Essex) Borough Deeds (Bundle 80, No. 2) The freeholders within the burrough summoned to appere att the forrest seate or sitinge at Chelmesford.
1660 J. Milton Readie Way Free Commonw. (ed. 2) 102 If all this avail not to remove the fear or envie of a perpetual sitting, it may be easilie provided [etc.].
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1678 (1955) IV. 154 The Parliament, growing now corrupt & intrested with long sitting, & Court practises.
1765 Ann. Reg. 1764 i. 50 The speaker was twenty hours in the chair, which was the longest sitting, by three hours, that is remembered to have happened.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) III. 539 Having requested the indulgence of an easy chair at the sittings of the French Academy..the King, instead of one easy chair, sent forty to the Academy.
1855 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Philip II of Spain II. ii. xi. 41 The discussions occupied many and long-protracted sittings of the council.
1896 Law Times 100 356/2 The first sitting of the new court was held on the 10th inst.
1904 A. M. Anderson Criminal Law 227 Now, all sittings of the Court of Justiciary are High Court sittings.
1991 Daily Tel. 5 Jan. (Colour Suppl.) 14/1 The public inquiry, when it came in 1982 (the mills of Marsham Street grind slowly), lasted ten months, a total of 117 days in sitting.
2002 Times 4 Apr. 13/8 The Scottish Parliament heard the Queen Mother described yesterday as ‘a great daughter of Scotland’ during a 20-minute sitting of MSPs.
b. English regional (Yorkshire). An annual fair or gathering at which servants or farm labourers are hired; a statute fair. In later use chiefly in plural. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > labour supply > [noun] > hiring market
statute sessions1562
statutea1600
sittinga1642
mop1677
statute fair1704
port1760
statute hall1763
statute hiring1793
hiring1825
feeing market1865
hiring-fair1883
Soul-mass hiring1884
giglet-fair1890
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 141 Masters that wante servants, and servants that wante Masters have the benefitte of the next sittinge to provide for themselves.
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 142 When servants goe to the sittinge they putte on theire best apparrell.
1788 W. Marshall Provincialisms E. Yorks. in Rural Econ. Yorks. II. 352 Sittings, statutes for servants.
1815 R. Sharp Let. 16 Nov. in Diary (1997) 4 This has been the sittings day, very throng and wages low.
1851 Notes & Queries 1st Ser. 3 328/2 It is customary once a year for men and women servants out of place to assemble in the market places of Hedon and Patrington..and there await being hired. This very ancient custom is called Hedon Sittings or Statutes.
1892 M. C. F. Morris Yorks. Folk-talk 369 We're off for Pockli'ton sittins.
1975 Oral Hist. 3 ii. 45 They went to the statute hiring fairs, or statties, or sittings, as they were locally known, which were held in the market towns; that is: York, Selby, Howden, [etc.].
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > observance, ritual > meeting for observance > [noun] > of Quakers
Quaker meeting1656
sitting1771
1771 S. Neale Life ix, in W. Evans & T. Evans Friends' Libr. (1847) XI. 52/2 Had an evening sitting with his family and Friends to our mutual renewing of strength, and had to speak respecting family worship and family sittings.
1791 M. Dudley Let. 23 June in E. Dudley Life of Mary Dudley (1825) v. 99 We have travelled since this day week about one hundred miles, had five Meetings, and several family sittings.
1841 J. J. Gurney Jrnl. in J. B. Braithwaite Mem. J. Gurney (1854) II. 261 We were favoured with a very good family sitting after breakfast... I had to minister to them all.
1921 R. M. Jones Later Periods of Quakerism I. vii. 231 These ‘opportunities’ were religious meetings or ‘sittings’, in which the entire family was gathered to wait in silence until the Lord should open the visitor His message to the family.
4. That on which, or in which, one sits; a seat; esp. (in later use) a seat or pew in a church, spec. one rented for exclusive use. In early use also: †a place of habitation or settlement (obsolete). Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > furniture > seat > [noun]
sitting?a1425
desk1560
stall1580
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > [noun] > place of
steadc960
seatc1275
sitting placea1382
sitting?a1425
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 71 In that cytee [sc. Samaria] was the sittynges of the .xij. tribes of Israel.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xvii. l. 15 (MED) Whiche Chaier he preisede..there-offen he seide..That It was of Alle the Ryalest Sittyng than That Evere Ordeyned was for Erthly man.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 151 The nature of these is..to cast about for the sitting of the Beast, and so hauing found it, with continuall cry to follow after it till it be wearied.
1740 Deed of Sale in A. Fellows Wayfarer's Compan. (1937) vii. 91 All Sittings kneelings and appurtenances in or belonging to the aforegranted seat or pew.
1799 T. Butler Diary 25 Aug. (?1919) 312 Many persons who would..have to pay a heavy Assessment had no right in the Chapel on account of having no Sittings.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Sitting, a single seat or sitting in a pew.
1870 F. R. Wilson Archit. Surv. Churches Lindisfarne 79 The stalls are oaken, the sittings generally being of pine.
1901 Man. School Law New Brunswick (Regulations Board of Educ.) iv. 83 In the case of rural districts generally,..the requirements respecting the number of sittings in the School-room, and the employment of classroom assistants, have been duly regarded.
1996 S. J. D. Green Relig. in Age of Decline (2002) iii. 114 By the time of its official opening in 1869, 779 of a possible 922 sittings in the church had been appropriated and financed through the traditional mechanism of ‘pew-renting’.
5.
a. A continuous period of time spent seated (while engaged in a specified or implied activity).Recorded earliest in at one (also a) sitting at Phrases.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of sitting > [noun] > spell of
sitting1511
sita1628
downsitting1694
1511 Kalender of Shepherdes (new ed.) sig. M.iv To ete or thou be an hongred, to ete many sortes of meates at one syttyng.
1606 Bp. J. Hall Heauen vpon Earth iv. 29 [Gorges] who..can freely carue to themselues large morsels at the next sitting.
1675 C. Cotton Burlesque upon Burlesque 13 I fain would know what at such sittings There will be left to do, but fill One's Guts like bruits, to munch and swill.
1710 Act 9 Anne c. 19 §2 in Statutes of Realm (1963) IX. 476 Any Person or Persons..who shall at any Time or sitting by playing at Cards..lose to any One or more..Persons..the Sum..of Ten Pounds.
1761 Brit. Mag. Oct. 525/1 Great licentiousness and forgetfulness of decorum..too often grew upon a long sitting.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair xlv. 402 Every time that he got a headache from too long an after-dinner sitting.
1875 L. Larcom Idyl of Work 95 The dining-room..served for evening sittings,—sewing, talk, And reading going on among the girls.
1905 Lancet 15 Apr. 1037/1 The first [case of tumour] was in a child, aged two years, in whom four sittings for electropuncture completed a cure.
1934 Musical Times 75 135/2 A sitting with these records gives you all the colour and excitement you need in a day.
2005 Irish Times (Nexis) 26 Nov. (Weekend section) 13 Collections of short works appeal because they can be interrupted and read in short sittings.
b. A period of time spent seated or posed before an artist, photographer, etc., as a subject or model. Also (and in earliest use) figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > painting > painting according to subject > [noun] > portrait-painting > sitting
sitting1656
séance1877
1656 A. Cowley Poems Pref. sig. (a)v There be some things in it [sc. a Comedy called The Guardian] which I am not ashamed of... But as it is, it is onely the hasty first-sitting of a Picture.
1660 Whole Art of Drawing 14 The second Sitting will require four or five hours, in that time you are to go over the Face very curiously, observing whatever may conduce either to likeness, or judicious Colouring.
1706 J. Savage tr. R. de Piles Art of Painting 375 He drew his Picture for him at several sittings.
1765 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (ed. 2) II. iii. 155 He..generally obtained one or two sittings for the completion [of the portrait].
1818 W. Hazlitt Lect. Eng. Poets iv. 157 Dryden recurs to the object often, takes fresh sittings of nature [etc.].
1840 Times 25 Aug. 4/5 Mr. Walcott also claims..the honour of adapting the substitution of reflectors for the camera, and thus reducing the length of the sitting to the short space of four to five minutes.
1884 Harper's Mag. Sept. 522/2 His ordinary mode of proceeding in the case of a portrait was to make a realistic study during the sitting.
1946 C. Beaton Diary in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xvi. 172 I was kept on the hop with sittings.
2010 Art Q. Winter 26/2 Sargent..found he could sometimes avoid a commission for a painting by agreeing to make a drawing straight away (he usually finished them in a single sitting of an hour or two).
c. A period of time spent seated for a seance; a seance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > the occult > spiritualism > [noun] > seance
séance1845
sitting1851
circle1856
session1858
spooking1919
1851 J. Tiffany Lect. Spiritualism x. 203 I shall have occasion to refer to this sitting again..to illustrate other phenomena which took place at this time.
1881 Medium & Daybreak 14 Oct. 651/2 As a clairvoyant medium, she simply desires to give sittings to genuine Spiritualists.
1956 R. M. Lester Towards Hereafter ii. 36 When I had a sitting with a medium who was obviously on the same vibration as myself the results were first-class.
1990 Kindred Spirit Summer 51/1 Medium/clairvoyant. Postal readings, private sittings.
2006 Sunday Express (Nexis) 1 Jan. 47 She also recently had a sitting with a medium.
d. One of two or more servings of a meal in a restaurant, canteen, etc., which are scheduled successively in order to accommodate different groups of guests; one of two or more time slots for which a table in a restaurant may be booked within a particular mealtime.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > [noun] > sitting of meal
dinner service1828
service1891
sitting1894
1894 Isle of Man Times 29 Dec. 5/5 Over 400 children sat down to the first sitting, and the second was even larger, so that altogether about 900 children partook of a good meal.
1904 Hotel Monthly Feb. 38/1 Mr. T. Lincoln may be assigned to table No. 1, seat No. 4, for the first sitting, and his meal hours are: Breakfast, 6.30 [etc.].
1959 P. Moyes Dead Men don't Ski i. 13 The lights of the train came on..and..the bell sounded..for First Dinner. Jimmy..was..due to dine at the first sitting.
1994 Caterer & Hotelkeeper 2 June (Chef Suppl.) 12/2 The burnt-orange ragged walls, black metal chairs and bare tables are part of his ‘quick food’ vision, which aims for five sittings a night at £12.50 a head.
2015 Daily Tel. (Sydney) (Nexis) 3 Feb. 37 This year the chef expects to serve 120 diners in two sittings at the Four in Hand in Paddington.
e. A period of time spent meditating while seated, typically on the floor in a cross-legged position with the back straight. Also: an event in which participants engage in sitting meditation.Often associated with Zen Buddhism; cf. zazen n.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > contemplation or meditation > [noun] > period of
retreat1740
sitting1913
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > contemplation or meditation > [noun] > in Buddhism
vipassana1688
zazen1727
samatha1863
sitting meditation1906
sitting1913
sesshin1922
kinhin1954
walking meditation1961
1913 L. W. de Laurence in tr. H. C. A. von Nettesheim Philos. Nat. Magic 300 The first essential is regular sittings or periods of meditation, when you must get mentally and physically quiet.
1969 K. Ramachandra Rao in K. C. Varadachari Sahaj Marg & Personality Probl. & Yoga Psychol. & Mod. Physiolog. Theories I. xvi. 144 Thoughts do continue to haunt me during most sittings.
1999 Lincoln (Nebraska) Jrnl. Star (Electronic ed.) 17 July 1 Practitioners are encouraged to meditate daily at home, or to go to Omaha for one of the daily sittings at the Zen Center.
2015 T. Jinpa Langri Fearless Heart v. 103 The regimen of regular long sittings..contributes to an environment conducive to slowing down and just being with your mind.
Phrases
at one (also a) sitting: in a single continuous period of being seated (while engaged in a specified or implied activity); in one unbroken spell (of eating, working, etc.); in one go. Later also in in one sitting.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > [adverb] > at one time or sitting
at one (also a) sitting1511
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of sitting > sit down [phrase] > during one sitting
at one (also a) sitting1511
1511 Kalender of Shepherdes (new ed.) sig. M.iv To ete or thou be an hongred, to ete many sortes of meates at one syttyng.
1533 J. Heywood Play of Wether C.iv Many tymes and ofte where we be flettynge We spende fourty pens a pece at a syttynge.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iii. i. 103 Your daughter spent in Genowa..one night fourescore ducats. Shy... Foure score ducats at a sitting, foure score ducats.
1616 B. Jonson Every Man in his Humor (rev. ed.) iii. i, in Wks. I. 31 I..take pen, and paper presently, and ouerflow you halfe a score, or a dozen of sonnets, at a sitting.
1691 T. Hale Acct. New Inventions 47 To finish this Piece up at one sitting.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 72. ¶8 Others that have smoaked an Hundred Pipes at a Sitting.
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. 198 I was assur'd..that she lost at one Sitting to the Tune of a hundred Guineas.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop ii. xlvi. 51 You should question me for half-a-dozen hours at a sitting, and welcome.
1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 76/1 They [sc. turtles]..lay at one sitting to the number of a hundred eggs.
1917 A. B. Paterson Three Elephant Power 41 Where men live on damper and beef, and occasionally eat a whole bottle of hot pickles at a sitting, simply to satisfy their craving for vegetable food.
1935 Times of India 6 Sept. 9/1 I read The Woman and the Sea in one sitting.
1944 M. Lowry Let. 4 Mar. (1995) I. 439 Nothing will cure him of constipation, it is true, but he reads slowly and likes to finish a Poem at a sitting.
1996 N. Gunod Class. Guitar for Beginners 16 It is a good idea to find one hour a day to practice—although not necessarily in one sitting.
2012 Independent 21 June 25/3 The four packs of yoghurt he will eat at one sitting.
Compounds
C1.
a. attributive, with the sense ‘of or relating to sitting or being seated; in or from a seated position; used for or in sitting’, as sitting arrangement, sitting muscle, sitting posture, etc.
ΚΠ
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) 3 Kings x. 19 Kyng Salamon made a gret trone of yuer..þe whiche hadde..two hondis hennys & þennes: holdynge þe sittynge place [a1425 L.V. seete; L. sedile].
1645 J. Downame Ann. Old & New Test. Lev. viii. sig. Gv Though they went not to bed, they might take some refreshing by sleepe in a sitting posture.
1775 J. Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 396 After sleeping two hours in a sitting posture.
1825 J. M. Good Study Med. (ed. 2) IV. 331 A high narrow chair with a straight back that hardly allows of any flexion to the sitting muscles.
1882 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 11 422 In India the..sect known as Jangams..a sort of Hindu Puritans, always bury their dead in a sitting attitude.
1888 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 3 Nov. 617/2 Another feature demanding improvement is the sitting arrangement of a school-room.
1905 E. Miles Boy's Control & Self-Expression 232 After sinking forward with you trunk, as in the sitting exercise, you very gradually bend your legs.
1976 E. M. Layman Buddhism in Amer. iv. 75 Some who cannot handle full-lotus or half-lotus sitting may kneel in Japanese sitting style.
1983 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 73 16 The sitting ability of Ailuropoda must also be considered in any analysis of pelvic characters.
2003 Alamogordo (New Mexico) Daily News 10 Dec. 2 b/3 This correction of sitting posture assists in minimizing the onset of pain.
b.
sitting position n.
ΚΠ
1801 Morning Post 8 Aug. (advt.) Patent Library, or Office Tables, to accommodate a sitting or standing position, in reading and writing.
1931 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 28 Mar. 538/2 She was very stout, of short stature, and in the sitting position the bones of her corset pressed deeply into the flesh of her thighs.
2014 E. Marani & W. F. R. M. Koch Pelvis xviii. 423 On average, you will shift your sitting position nearly 7–8 times an hour.
C2. attributive, with the sense ‘of or relating to the action of birds in sitting on eggs so as to incubate and hatch them; designed or used for this purpose’, as sitting box, sitting nest, etc.See also sitting room n. 1b.
ΚΠ
1573 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxf. (1880) 350 For chargys aboute the swanes..at the syttynge tyme and uppynge tyme.
1803 C. Taylor Script. Illustr. Nat. Hist. 41 Birds during their sitting time are ever clamorous.
1850 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 87 Laying and sitting boxes may be placed at either side of the building.
1850 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard 89 The partition between the laying and sitting apartments.
1854 L. A. Meall Moubray's Treat. Poultry 424 The construction of sitting-nests on one side of the..night-house.
1925 Rhode Island State College Extension Bull. Apr. 5 Place the sitting coops in a secluded place and if out of doors or in a large room put a slatted run in front to prevent the sitters from wandering away when they come off for food.
1959 Times 31 Mar. 1/7 (advt.) The Cotswold ‘Two-Way’ Sitting Box is the answer to every keeper's prayer.
2012 N. Murtagh Backyard Duck Bk. xii. 135 This suggests that ducklings grow accustomed to their mother's sounds during her sitting period.
C3. attributive, with the sense ‘designating a period of time during which a judicial, legislative, or deliberative body is in session’, as sitting session, sitting time, sitting week, etc. Now chiefly Australian and New Zealand.rare before 19th cent.
ΚΠ
1598 J. Stow Suruay of London 392 A clocke..striketh euery houre on a great bell, to be heard into the Hall, in sitting time of the courts.
1830 Westm. Rev. Oct. 431 How to minimize the quantity of judicial sitting time in a year, without lessening the quantity and productiveness of the fee-gathering time?
1922 Farmer & Settler (Sydney) 11 Aug. 2/3 The report of Tuesday's proceedings in Parliament for each sitting week could well read: ‘Nothing accomplished’.
1997 J. Uhr in G. Galligan et al. New Devel. Austral. Politics iv. 72 The prime minister [was] available for questioning on only two days of each sitting week.
2015 N.Z. Newswire 1 Dec. Members of parliament begin their last sitting session on Tuesday with the government running out of time to deal with a backlog of legislation.
C4. attributive, with the sense ‘designating a room or other place used for sitting in’, as sitting chamber, sitting parlour, etc.Recorded earliest in sitting room n. 1a.
ΚΠ
1763 St. James's Chron. 23 July To be Lett..Witton Hall..consisting of an elegant and commodious Dining-Room, Drawing-Room, Parlour, and Sitting-Room, upon one floor.
1787 St. James's Chron. 4 Sept. Her Sitting-Parlour has unfortunately participated in the Character of the Drawing-Room.
1799 Bye Laws governing Poor of St. Mary-le-Bone 11 That the Master and Matron do every Sunday morning send one of each of the said Books into every Sitting Hall.
1828 ‘C. Sealsfield’ Austria as it Is iii. 60 The avenues to the Imperial castle, the court-yards, and the staircase which leads into the sitting chamber, were lined with the..national guards.
1833 T. Hook Parson's Daughter III. xi. 285 Here was the governor's sleeping-cabin [on board]—his lady's sitting-cabin [etc.].
1893 R. Blennerhassett & L. Sleeman Adventures Mashonaland xiii. 319 We were busy..putting a few finishing touches to a rustic porch, which we had added to our sitting-hut.
1977 Suburban Life Citizen (La Grange, Illinois) 23 Apr. i. 4/6 The sitting garden of the estate was originally located on the corner of Bloomingbank and Conley.
1992 Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner 12 June c10/3 (advt.) Large open living area, formal dining, double wall construction, 3 bedrooms with a sitting suite off the master bedroom.
2009 M. Bigley Explorer's Guide Northern Calif. 405/1 These sister hotels..have been restored to their original 19th-century opulence with Victorian-era antiques and sitting parlours.
C5.
sitting area n. †(a) (in a building) the amount of space available for seating (obsolete); (b) an area (either open-air or within a building) provided with or having seating.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > [noun] > sufficient space or room > for sitting
sitting room1837
sitting area1860
1860 Building News 21 Sept. 975/1 (table heading) Sitting area.
1886 Pall Mall Budget 16 Sept. 28/1 The latter [sc. balconies] wide and roomy, so as to increase and vary the sitting area.
1931 San Mateo (Calif.) Times 22 Oct. 6/3 Hacienda Garden Apartments... Playground and sitting areas.
1960 C. Achebe No Longer at Ease ii. 14 The sitting area was taken up with two armchairs, a settee..and a round table.
2015 Town & Country Sept. 38/1 The Deluxe Suites..have a separate sitting area and bedroom.
sitting bath n. a small (often portable) bathtub designed to immerse the buttocks, and used esp. for medical reasons; a bath taken in this; = sitz bath n.
ΚΠ
1841 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 15 Nov. By the operation of the sitting bath the blood is so cooled, that instead of occupying..a larger space than normal, it takes up less room.
1849 R. T. Claridge Every Man his own Doctor 63 Sitting baths must not be taken just before going to bed.
1904 Health Mag. Mar. 78/1 Take a sitting bath, warm or cold, according to requirements.
2016 S. G. Salvo Massage Therapy xii. 257/2 A sitz bath is a sitting bath with the water covering the hips and often coming up to the navel.
sitting breeches n. colloquial breeches said to be worn (figuratively) by someone inclined to remain seated for a long time, or to stay up late; frequently in to have one's sitting breeches on.
ΚΠ
1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Sitting breeches, one who stays late in company, is said to have his sitting breeches on, or that he will sit longer than a hen.
1826 ‘G. Grin’ Rhyming Reminisc. 130 Now Master Bristle, fond of pro and con, From argument was never known to flinch; And when he had his sitting breeches on, He wouldn't budge an inch.
1899 National Mag. Feb. 479/2 He certainly does wear his sittin' breeches when he pays his respects.
1917 P. Kester His Own Country xlii. 497 'Deed if he ain't got his sitting britches on... Yes, sir, that child acts like he had a root to his foot that had growed right into the floor an' kep' him a-sitting there.
1947 A. S. Turnbull Bishop's Mantle i. 4 When you're stuck with a caller who has his sittin' britches on, Hilary, I'll tell you how to get rid of him.
2012 S. King 11/22/63 (new ed.) 67 He gave me a tired smile and added, ‘I got my sittin-britches on.’
sitting day n. a day on which a judicial, legislative, or deliberative assembly is in session.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > [noun] > sitting of > day or period of
sitting day1605
sitting1660
1605 Proclam. James I for Buildings in & about London (single sheet) That they..be bound to appeare in the said Court of Starchamber at the next sitting day of the same Court.
1652 Severall Proc. Parl. No. 129. 1997 That for fourteen sitting days, nothing but publique businesses be taken into debate.
1664 S. Pepys Diary 14 July (1971) V. 204 I went and found him busy in trials of law in his great room; and it being sitting-day, durst not stay.
a1743 J. Cannon Chrons. (2010) I. 106 One evening, it being on a sitting day I left my collector to attend the weight of a stage of candles made that day at the said Shrimpton's.
1794 Trial Warren Hastings I. 176 He then concluded with informing their Lordships, that on the next sitting day, he would clearly show, that [etc.].
1894 Daily News 6 Mar. 2/1 He was not absent from the House one sitting day.
1910 Times 23 June 7/2 The regulations when made would have to lie upon the table of the House for 40 full sitting days.
1964 L. A. Abraham & S. C. Hawtrey Parl. Dict. (ed. 2) 128 The Order Book of the House of Commons is published in the afternoon of each sitting day.
2008 L. Lovelock & J. Evans New S. Wales Legislative Council Pract. vii. 220 There are statutory requirements for the tabling of annual and other reports within a number of sitting days of being made.
sitting height n. the height of a person (or occasionally animal) when sitting, spec. the distance from the base of a person's torso when sitting to the crown of their head; (also) the length of a person's torso.
ΚΠ
1665 J. Webb Vindic. Stone-Heng Restored 180 These were stones but of a sitting height at utmost.
1828 Belfast News-Letter 26 Dec. There were three fir spars placed along the wall, each end supported by stones, in order to elevate the students to a comfortable sitting height.
1899 Birds & all Nature May 228/1 His [sc. the tarsier's] sitting height is about that of a squirrel.
1899 A. MacDonald Exper. Study Children xii. in Ann. Rep. Dept. Interior House of Representatives Doc. no. 5 1023 Girls continue growing in sitting height, or length of trunk, longer than in length of limbs.
1923 Times 3 Nov. 18/4 Sitting height and leg-room can be altered to suit individual build.
1993 Daily Mail 7 Sept. 32/1 The programme measures physical characteristics such as height, sitting height, weight, arm span, [etc.].
2010 T. W. Sadler Langman's Med. Embryol. (ed. 11) vii. 91/1 The length of the fetus is usually indicated as the crown-rump length (CRL) (sitting height) or as the crown-heel length (CHL).
sitting meditation n. (originally in Zen Buddhism) meditation practised while seated, typically on the floor in a cross-legged position with the back straight; (also) an instance of this; cf. zazen n.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > contemplation or meditation > [noun] > in Buddhism
vipassana1688
zazen1727
samatha1863
sitting meditation1906
sitting1913
sesshin1922
kinhin1954
walking meditation1961
1906 Maha-Bodhi Aug. 114 The Koan becomes a theme upon which the student fixes his mind as intently as possible and consecutively upon all occasions, as well as in regular sitting meditation for a certain number of hours daily.
1960 Philos. East & West 10 32 It is in the spirit and heritage of Zen to believe..that in sitting meditation one can share his experience with him [sc. Buddha].
2014 T. Deckersbach et al. Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Bipolar Disorder ii. v. 160 After checking the mood diary, the group starts with a sitting meditation.
sitting part n. euphemistic the buttocks, the bottom; also in plural in same sense.
ΚΠ
1737 H. Fielding Tom Thumb (ed. 3) ii. x. 37 While the two Stools her Sitting-Part confound, Between 'em both fall squat upon the Ground.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. iii. 54 [Calthrops] to endamage the sitting part of a learned professor of Utrecht.
1823 London Med. & Physical Jrnl. Dec. 471 Immediately on the sitting parts were two deep ragades.
1968 M. Kumin Passions of Uxport xxv. 339 Man, I gotta callus on my sitting part.
2015 I. Doig Last Bus to Wisdom iii. 28 I reluctantly tucked the black arrowhead in under the moccasins... I didn't want to risk being jabbed in my sitting part.
sitting volleyball n. a form of volleyball adapted for players with a disability (especially paralysis or amputation of the lower limbs), in which the participants sit on the floor of the court.
ΚΠ
1945 News-Palladium (Benton Harbor, Mich.) 27 July 5/2 600 amputees and other wounded veterans..staged the finals of their third annual field meet... In the tests were swimming races, golf, softball, sitting and standing volleyball, [etc.].
1984 Register (Orange County, Calif.) 28 June (Sports section) e10/4 The Netherlands and West Germany will meet today for the gold medal for sitting volleyball for amputees.
2012 Independent 21 June 11/3 She spent a year in hospital and took up sitting volleyball after a trial at Stoke Mandeville, the birthplace of the Paralympics.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
sittingadj.
/ˈsɪtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈsɪdɪŋ/ I. Senses relating to sitting down or being seated.
1. † e. Botany. Attached directly by the base, without a stalk; sessile. Obsolete.
a. Of a person or figure: that is sitting down; seated.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of sitting > [adjective]
sittingOE
sedent1682
seated1817
OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) ii. 13 Se Hælend..gemette on þam temple þa ðe sealdon oxsan & sceap & culfran & sittende myneteras.
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) cxliii. 186 Þeos wyrt conize on wætere gesoden & sittendum wife under [geled], heo ðone cwiþan afeormaþ.
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια ix. viii. 733 Neither could he haue looked vppe to heauen..nor sit him down to meditate, for they say, that the sitting soule is the wisest.
1658 Sir T. Browne Garden of Cyrus ii, in Hydriotaphia: Urne-buriall 108 In this figure the sitting gods and goddesses are drawn in medalls and medallions.
1702 P. A. Motteux in G. Farquhar Inconstant sig. a Like hungry Guests a sitting Audience looks: Plays are like Suppers: Poets are the Cooks.
a1774 P. Whitehead Poems (1777) 115 Be Pimp and Poet, furnish Rhime or Whore, Or fetch and carry for some foolish Lord, To sneak—a Sitting Footman at his board.
1822 W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel II. x. 238 'Tis the sitting gamester sweeps the board.
1851 F. Meyrick Pract. Working of Church in Spain vii. 136 The floor was covered with sitting ladies.
1910 M. H. Saville Antiq. of Manabi, Ecuador 123 All of the upright figures stand on pedestals, and but two of the sitting figures are on seats.
1965 C. Himes Cotton comes to Harlem (1988) xix. 137 ‘We sprang you, baby, to get the money,’ the sitting gunman said flatly.
2015 Medicine Hat (Alberta) News 20 Nov. a7/2 I think it's a nice relaxing piece..and while abstract, it's something people can still look at and see the sitting woman.
b. Of a bird, esp. a hen: that is sitting on eggs so as to incubate and hatch them; inclined to sit in this way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by habits or actions > [adjective] > sitting
sittinga1500
the world > animals > birds > egg > [adjective] > that sits
sittinga1500
a1500 Walter of Henley's Husbandry (Sloane) (1890) 57 (MED) Ye shall sufesyently be recompensed þer fore..withe þe sayle off þe cheknys þat your sytyng henne hathe broughte furthe.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Chioccia, a clocking or sitting hen, a brood hen or a clucke hen.
1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. xxiv. 210 A furnace so made as to imitate the warmeth of a sitting henne.
1759 R. Brown Compl. Farmer (Dublin ed.) 92 Sitting hens [London ed.: setting hens] are sometimes troubled with lice and vermin.
1834 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. II. 354 Who can approach a sitting dove, hear its notes of remonstrance,..without being sensible that he is committing a wrong act?
1873 M. A. Barker Station Amusements N.Z. ii. 30 There were three eggs..which I tried in vain to hatch under a sitting duck.
1908 Breeder's Gaz. 24 June 1400/3 The centre of the house is devoted to nests for laying and sitting fowls.
1962 Illustr. London News 3 Feb. 188/3 Excrement from the sitting hen accumulates around her and around the eggs.
2014 Del Rio (Texas) News-Herald 9 May 8 a/5 My wife had two hens that were trying to set so she put the little baby chicken under one of them. She finally moved those two sitting hens and the baby to the floor of the chicken house.
c. Of an animal: that is sitting or resting with its hind quarters on the ground.
ΚΠ
1512 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1902) IV. 345 To ane at fand ane sittand hair.
c1709 M. Prior Dove xiii Have You observ'd a sitting Hare, List'ning [etc.]?
1838 Jrnl. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 7 1053 Sitting elephant, trunk curled inward.
1878 Boston Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 98 463 The hind legs, which were before drawn up under the body in the natural position of a sitting frog, immediately hang downward when I lift the animal up.
1904 M. Rooses Rubens I. 311 The inscription..is placed on a slab supported by sitting lions with a festoon of fruits in their jaws.
1963 Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin) 30 Sept. The hunters were to move in and pot shoot the sitting bear.
2015 A. Miklósi Dog Behaviour, Evol., & Cognition (ed. 2) iii. 48/1 The heart rate of a moving dog is higher than the heart rate of a sitting dog.
d.
(a) Hunting and Shooting. Of a bird or animal viewed as a target: stationary, and so easier to shoot. Hence figurative and in extended use: (of a target) easy to aim at or hit; vulnerable to attack or other danger; cf. sitting duck at Compounds, sitting shot (b) at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > thing hunted or game > [adjective] > stationary
sitting1618
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [noun] > liability to harm, loss, etc. > vulnerable part, thing, or person
gap1548
weak link1581
subjecta1593
sitting1618
blota1657
soft spot1770
Achilles heel1839
sick man1853
soft underbelly1942
1618 T. Adams Happines of Church i. 418 The sitting bird is easily shot; so long as shee is flying in the ayre, the murdering piece is not leuelled at her.
1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Peter (ii. 10) 742 The sitting bird is the fowlers marke.
1818 ‘W. H. Scott’ Brit. Field Sports 60 He would..have been viewed as a sorry Sportsman..who should have gone into the field only to aim at sitting marks.
1836 Examiner 29 May 1/2 Measures of reform secured without a struggle would be to them as shooting sitting game is to sportsmen.
1867 A. Trollope Claverings I. x. 126 The man who fires at a sitting bird is known to be no sportsman.
1913 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 7 Dec. (News Mag. Suppl.) 2/6 The vultures..dropped to the ground like lead. This, then, would be the moment at which to shoot them, when for four or five seconds they offered practically a sitting target.
1944 R.A.F. Jrnl. Aug. 270 Carriers are sitting birds for enemy surface craft.
1955 Illustr. London News 5 Nov. 3 (advt.) Unprotected cooling systems are a sitting target for frost.
2002 Pa. Outdoor Times Oct. 35/3 I personally prefer the ethical standards of many a modern day hunter. Never shoot at a sitting game bird.
(b) figurative. That can hardly be bungled, easy. Cf. sitter n.1 4c. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > [adjective] > easy to do or accomplish
eathlyc1000
lightOE
eathc1175
easyc1380
facile1484
good1490
easy (also simple, etc.) as pie1890
untroublesome1894
potty1899
sitting1932
cake1968
slow-pitch1981
renable1995
1932 Evening Standard 28 Jan. 11/2 They had a hand which contained a ‘sitting’ game in Spades—one of two had five to the four top honours.
1960 I. Peebles Bowler's Turn 190 Against these two Dexter with a bit of luck (dropped at square leg at 30 and off a sitting return by Worrell at 32) played confidently.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > stem or stalk > [adjective] > having or resembling a footstalk > not having a footstalk or sessile
sessile1753
squatted1760
subsessile1760
sitting1776
1776 W. Withering Bot. Arrangem. Veg. Great Brit. II. Gloss. 805/1 Sitting, Leaves; have no leaf-stalk; as Spearmint and Hound's-tongue.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) I. 328 In Leontodon Taraxacum the down is supported on a long pedicle, in all the other English species it is sitting.
1851 T. Wright & G. F. Richardson Introd. Geol. (new ed.) vii. 203 Leaves are..either sessile or petiolate, that is, either sitting or having footstalks.
1919 Jrnl. N.-China Branch Royal Asiatic Soc. 50 83 On some trees with the sitting flowers the corolla frequently is not well developed.
2.
a. Of a person: that occupies, or possesses the right to, a particular position or office; holding office, incumbent.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > [adjective] > possessing > possessing a position or condition
sitting1547
society > law > administration of justice > one who administers justice > [adjective] > sitting (of magistrate)
sitting1547
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > Member of Parliament > holding seat at time referred to
sitting1547
1547 J. Bale Lattre Examinacyon A. Askewe f. 2v Now are the true Christyanes vexed of the syttynge Byshoppes for their Christen beleue.
?1652 W. Prynne To Mr. I. Bradshaw 24 in New Discov. Free-state Tyranny (1655) [He] writ to the city..recommending his own Son-in-Law Iames Ash (a Westminster Member) to the Office; which being seconded by his own Fathers sollicitation (another sitting Member, his near Neighbour) [etc.].
1692 R. Balch (title) The case of Robert Balch of Bridgwater Gent. sitting Member of Parliament for the Borough of Bridgwater.
1702 W. Bohun Privilegia Londini 410 Certificates of Fees, accustomed to be taken by the several Prothonotaries, Secondaries, Attorneys, and Sitting Clerks of the City of London.
1755 T. Carew Hist. Acct. Rights Elections Great Brit. 26/1 The authentical poll was produced, whereby the sitting member had five votes more than the petitioner.
1853 Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper 5 June 5/2 I would respectfully suggest a congress of trades, callings, and professions—a sitting president, and a representative for each town.
1882 R. Temple Men & Events ii. 19 The sitting Director..entreated us..to think kindly, even fraternally, regarding the Natives of India.
1978 Times 2 Oct. 2/5 The favoured subjects [included]..preselection of sitting Labour MPs and a revision of the Official Secrets Act.
1988 P. Heath Church & Realm iii. 124 If the sitting incumbent—or his bishop—was obstructive, a writ of quare impedit would assign the matter to a local jury to decide whether the living was void or not.
2017 Christian Sci. Monitor 6 Jan. In Congo and Gambia..voters turned out the sitting head of state.
b. Of a judicial, legislative, or deliberative body: that is in session; assembled for or proceeding with business.
ΚΠ
1640 Proc. Commissioners Parl. of Scotl. 57 in W. Kerr True Representation Proc. Kingdome of Scotl. Wee are not now private subjects, but a sitting Parliament.
1682 J. Northleigh Parallel 19 The sitting House [of Parliament] shall not only be obeyed as the Supream and Legislative power of the Nation.
1740 Fitness of repealing Septennial Act 7 It was not therefore in all that Period the Interest of the Crown to perpetuate a Sitting Parliament.
1756 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 28/2 The year of the sitting assembly being nearly expir'd, they requested the governor..to be speedy in laying before them whatever was of public importance.
1812 Literary Panorama June 1069 The sitting council of war condemned them..to be flogged.
1858 Dundee Courier 20 Oct. The sitting jury were then dismissed, and a new one empannelled.
1915 Amer. Jrnl. Vet. Med. Oct. 734/1 This conviction of the sitting executive committee..had another far reaching effect.
1982 Times 25 May 11/2 This is not like the Second World War when the life of the sitting Parliament was extended beyond its normal term.
2003 R. L. Pacelle Between Law & Politics 49 The office needs to consider what Congress meant when it passed the law how the sitting Congress might interpret the provisions in question.
c. Of a judge or magistrate: presiding over a judicial matter.
ΚΠ
1654 Poor Prisoners Petition for Charity against Christmas (single sheet) Addresse was made unto Deputy Hovil being then a constant sitting Judge at Salters Hall, in the behalfe of the miserable poore Prisoners.
1769 Ann. Reg. 1768 57 The sitting Magistrates..at the Rotation-office in Whitechapel.
1787 World & Fashionable Advertiser 10 Jan. A man..was committed by the sitting Magistrate of Bow-street, to Tothil-Fields, Bridewell, for further examination.
?1826 A. Knapp & W. Baldwin New Newgate Cal. (new ed.) V. 252 He was caught, carried before the sitting magistrate at Guildhall, and fully committed on three several charges.
1876 Rep. Sanitary Measures India 1874–5 VIII. 118 in Parl. Papers (C. 1615) LVI. 279 The Health Officer again calls attention to the inadequacy of the fines imposed by the sitting Justices in conservancy cases.
1941 Times 14 May 1/4 The said Petition is directed to be heard before the Hon'ble Sitting Judge in Chambers on the 21st day of July 1941.
1975 Daily Mail 8 Apr. 14/5 An arrest warrant..was duly issued by the sitting magistrate.
2005 Financial Times 14 July 28/3 If I were the sitting judge I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable giving out this sentence.
d. Of a tenant: currently renting or occupying particular premises.
ΚΠ
1809 Edinb. Advertiser 26 Dec. The outgoing tenant is bound to labour and manure for the away-going crop, as if he were a sitting tenant.
1884 J. E. T. Rogers Six Cent. Work & Wages I. 54 Raising rent on the sitting tenant, to use a modern phrase.
1959 Huntington Libr. Q. 22 143 The grand assize enabled the sitting tenant to decline the duellum in favour of the verdict of a jury.
1980 Economist 8 Nov. 65/2 Low rents seem more attractive to sitting council house tenants in a recession than the very generous purchase discounts offered to them.
2013 T. Pynchon Bleeding Edge vi. 54 Landlords were..using Gestapo techniques to get sitting tenants to move.
3. Done or taken while sitting; esp. (of a meal) eaten while sitting. Cf. sit-down adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action or fact of sitting > [adjective] > requiring sitting posture
sedentary1603
sitting1812
sit-down1936
1812 Montgomery II. xxv. 155 It was..discovered..that a sitting game was better adapted..than one which required the exertion and support of legs!
1834 Amer. Q. Rev. 15 157 The other point is the answering of invitations for an evening party—unless it be a sitting supper, where it is requisite to know what number is to be present, which is never done abroad.
1889 W. Westall Birch Dene I. 251 A ‘standing gill’ cost a penny, a ‘sitting gill’ three-halfpence.
1898 J. M. Cobban Angel of Covenant 180 To take a sitting drink..with the Gordon gentlemen.
1915 Times 31 Mar. 6/2 We saw dead soldiers..lying in the forbidden land between the two trenches... That reminded us that it is not all a sitting game of calm and deliberation.
2008 Proc. 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit 19 The Farewell Cocktail..was followed by a sitting buffet style dinner.
II. Other senses.† 5. Becoming, befitting; proper, suitable; appropriate. Cf. fitting adj. a.
4. † b. That fits well or closely; attractively formed or shaped. Obsolete.
a. As the second element in compounds. Formed or shaped in a particular way; (esp. of clothing) that fits, rests, or hangs in a particular way. In early use chiefly in well-sitting adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > beauty of shape or form > [adjective]
(fair) of flesh and fellc1000
sittinga1300
well-sittinga1300
well-shapedc1300
lealc1350
well-shapenc1380
shapelya1382
well-formeda1425
well-moulded1616
shapeful1621
clever1674
shapeable1719
formful1798
a1300 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 2 Ic habbe ibeo..inne wel sittende schon in pruttere iwede.
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 2263 Poyntis and sleues be well sittande Right and streght on the hande.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xiv. 227 She was sklender a-boute the flankes and the haunche lowe and comly well sittynge.
1598 Floure & Leafe in T. Speght Wks. G. Chaucer f. 366v/1 The surcotes white of veluet wele sitting.
1794 J. Harris Diary 12 Nov. in J. Harris Diaries & Corr. J. Harris (1844) III. 150 The tight and close-sitting breeches the men wear.
1832 J. S. Knowles Hunchback ii. i. 31 She finds it a very pattern of a gown! A well sitting flounce!
1876 J. O. Westwood Descr. Catal. Fictile Ivories S. Kensington Mus. 302 His head and neck covered with a tight-sitting cap.
1888 Forest & Stream 25 Oct. 255/1 To windward [the cutter] could not lay up on account of a badly sitting mainsail.
1905 N. O. G. Nordenskjöld & J. G. Andersson Antarctica xii. 476 Duse made a very nice, loosely-sitting pair [of snow-spectacles] out of a stave of an oaken barrel.
1997 Toronto Star (Nexis) 31 July e2 The close-sitting, A-line design is shown in a below mid-knee length with a scoop neck and cap sleeves.
2014 Daily Mirror (Nexis) 20 Apr. Supermodel Miranda Kerr never puts a fashion foot wrong. Here she rocks these bad boys with a tailored suit jacket, loose-sitting tee and sharp accessories.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > that fits in specific way > close-fitting
straita1387
justc1440
sitting1440
close1488
well-fitted1590
close-bodied1677
succinct1714
tightish1775
tight1784
full-fashioned1812
skintight1838
snug1838
fully-fashioned1844
tight-fitting1846
close-fitting1870
slim1884
skin-fitting1915
skinny1915
slinky1921
tight-ass1969
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 457 Syttynge clothe, or streythe, strigium.
a1500 (?a1475) Guy of Warwick (Cambr. Ff.2.38) l. 58 (MED) Hur vysage was of feyre colowre..Feyre mowthe and nose syttynge.
a. In predicative use. Usually with to or for and complement. Frequently in well-sitting adj. Obsolete.
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society > morality > dueness or propriety > [adjective]
goodOE
proper?c1225
felea1250
featc1325
seeming1338
rightful1340
thriftyc1386
sittingc1390
duea1393
truea1398
goodly1398
convenienta1400
wella1400
seemc1400
likelyc1425
fitc1440
tallc1440
befalling1542
fittinga1616
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > [adjective] > fitting or proper
methelyeOE
ylikeeOE
fairOE
i-meteOE
rightOE
becomelyc1175
proper?c1225
featc1325
conablea1340
rightful1340
worthyc1350
pursuanda1375
covenable1382
dignec1385
convenablec1386
thriftyc1386
sittingc1390
comenablea1400
gainlya1400
meeta1400
wortha1400
convenientc1400
meetlya1425
suinga1425
fitc1440
tallc1440
worthyc1450
good1477
dueful?a1527
beseeminga1530
fitting1535
straighta1538
decent1539
answerable1542
becoming1565
condecent1575
becomed1599
respective1605
befittinga1612
comely1617
decorous1664
shape-like1672
beseemly1737
farrantly?1748
fitly1840
in order1850
c1390 [implied in: c1390 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 182 So sittyngli hire sawes heo set, As a wommon boþe war and wys. (at sittingly adv.)].
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) (1891) l. 986 To hem [sc. these arowis] was wel sittyng and able The foule croked bowe hidous.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. l. 1262 A wel beseyn meyne, Lyche as was sytting vn-to his degre.
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 1041 Fawnus for Agea, as it was wele sitting, Made grete ordenaunce for hir burying.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. ccxxxii. f. cliiii It is not vnworthy to the that axeste the first stroke and dygrly of this fight, for to the it is sittynge for noblesse of bloode.
1564 N. Haward tr. Eutropius Briefe Chron. x. sig. S.ii Not all together so hedefull aboute hys affayres as it was sittinge & fitte for soo myghtye a prince.
?1572 T. Paynell tr. Treasurie Amadis of Fraunce xii. 284 This..shall be a thyng verye well syttyng and conuenient for your accustomed graciousnesse.
b. In attributive use. Obsolete.
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?c1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Cambr. Ii.3.21) (1886) i. pr. iii. 5 It nere nat leueful ne sittinge thing [?c1400 BL Add. 10340 ne sittyng] to philosophie to leten with-owten compaygnie the wey of hym þat is innocent.
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 953 He saluȝede þat sorowfull with sittande wordez.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) xvi. 32 [The] nose..is the moost syttyng membre that a man..may haue.
Compounds
sitting duck originally Military an easy target; a person who or thing that is defenceless against an attack or other danger.Quot. 1938 shows use as part of an explicit metaphor.
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1938 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 13 June 7/1 Schmeling would not be going into the ring unless he was absolutely convinced of the outcome. He thinks It will be like shooting a sitting duck.]
1942 Atchison (Kansas) Daily Globe 22 Aug. 3/4 The enemy tank runs into..triangular and rectangular ‘cribs’ which stop it and make it a sitting duck for defensive sharpshooters.
1948 Harper's Mag. Apr. 290/2 Ever since Sinclair Lewis gave the first lessons in marksmanship, men of the Senator's type have been sitting ducks for the opposition.
1954 J. Blish in If; Worlds Sci. Fiction No. 4. 38/2 You're a sitting duck for a real infection if you abuse your time during convalescence.
2004 C. Cobb Ego & Ink xv. 175 I was a sitting duck for guys who were in a rejectionist mode about what had gone on..before.
sitting shot chiefly Australian in later use (a) a shot fired at a stationary target, and so easier to make; an easy shot or attempt at something; (b) an easy target; a person who or thing that is defenceless against an attack or other danger.
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1834 Bell's Life in London 21 Sept. There is something inglorious in a sitting shot which a true professor cannot brook.
1852 Naturalist 2 214 I never could get a sitting shot at them [sc. long-tailed Ice Ducks]... They invariably take wing when you get within from a hundred yards to a quarter of a mile.
1915 R. Kipling Fringes of Fleet 41 Together they lamented the loss of a Zeppelin—‘a perfect mug of a Zepp’, who had come down very low and offered one of them a sitting shot.
1971 Woroni (Canberra) 9 Mar. 13/*4 You know of the recent crisis in New York and the problems that have beset Tokyo and Los Angeles. The experts say Sydney and Brisbane are sitting shots for something similar.
2018 Courier Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 27 May 44 Zousain took up the running, but Kerrin McEvoy said he failed to relax and was a sitting shot for stablemate Lean Mean Machine who made his run closer to the fence.
sitting trot n. Horse Riding a technique in which the rider remains seated during the horse's trot rather than rising from the saddle on alternate strides, as in a rising trot (rising trot n. at rising adj. Compounds 2).
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1887 H. Hall Tribune Bk. Open-air Sports iii. 39 In the close sitting trot the rider gives himself up to the motions of the horse, rising and falling with every step.
1955 Times 8 Oct. 4/3 [She]..emerged with 141 points, in spite of the rider completing certain movements at a sitting trot instead of rising.
2009 Pract. Horseman Oct. 58 When your horse is seamlessly spiraling out in both directions at the walk, practice spiraling out at the rising and sitting trots, using the same strategy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> see also
also refers to : -sittingcomb. form
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n.eOE
adj.OEsee also