Word Study
chit
CIDE DICTIONARY
chit, n. [Cf. AS. cī shoot, sprig, from the same root as cīnan to yawn. See Chink a cleft.].
- The embryo or the growing bud of a plant; a shoot; a sprout; as, the chits of Indian corn or of potatoes. [1913 Webster]
- A child or babe; as, a forward chit; also, a young, small, or insignificant person or animal. [1913 Webster]"A little chit of a woman." [1913 Webster]
- An excrescence on the body, as a wart. [1913 Webster]
- A small tool used in cleaving laths. Knight. [1913 Webster]
chit, n. [Hind. chi.].
- A short letter or note; a written message or memorandum; a certificate given to a servant; a pass, or the like. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
- A signed voucher or memorandum of a small debt, as for food and drinks at a club. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
chit, v. i.
To shoot out; to sprout. [1913 Webster]
"I have known barley chit in seven hours after it had been thrown forth." [1913 Webster]
chit, 3d pers. sing.
Chideth. Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
chit, n.
1 derog. or joc. a young, small, or frail girl or woman (esp. a chit of a girl).
2 a young child.
1 derog. or joc. a young, small, or frail girl or woman (esp. a chit of a girl).
2 a young child.
chit, n.
1 a note of requisition; a note of a sum owed, esp. for food or drink.
2 esp. Brit. a note or memorandum.
1 a note of requisition; a note of a sum owed, esp. for food or drink.
2 esp. Brit. a note or memorandum.
Etymology
earlier chitty: Anglo-Ind. f. Hindi citthi pass f. Skr. citra mark
THESAURUS
chit
accounts payable, accounts receivable, acknowledgment, amount due, answer, bad debts, bairn, bantam, banty, bill, billet, bills, borrowing, bud, business letter, button, charges, cherub, chick, chickabiddy, child, chits, communication, darling, debt, diminutive, dispatch, due, dues, epistle, favor, featherweight, financial commitment, fingerling, floating debt, funded debt, indebtedness, indebtment, innocent, juvenile, kid, kitten, lamb, lambkin, letter, liability, lightweight, line, little bugger, little fellow, little guy, little innocent, little one, little tad, little tot, maturity, memo, memorandum, message, mini, minikin, minnow, minny, missive, mite, moppet, mouse, national debt, nipper, notation, note, nubbin, obligation, offspring, outstanding debt, peewee, pledge, pony, public debt, puss, reply, rescript, runt, score, shaver, shrimp, slip, small fry, snip, snippet, tad, tit, tot, uncollectibles, unfulfilled pledge, wart, wee tot, wisp, youngsterROGET THESAURUS
chit
Correspondence
N correspondence, letter, epistle, note, billet, post card, missive, circular, favor, billet-doux, chit, chitty, letter card, picture post card, postal, card, despatch, dispatch, bulletin, these presents, rescript, rescription, post, epistolary, furor scribendi.Infant
N infant, babe, baby, babe in arms, nurseling, suckling, yearling, weanling, papoose, bambino, kid, vagitus, child, bairn, little one, brat, chit, pickaninny, urchin, bantling, bratling, elf, youth, boy, lad, stripling, youngster, youngun, younker, callant, whipster, whippersnapper, whiffet, schoolboy, hobbledehoy, hopeful, cadet, minor, master, scion, sap, seedling, tendril, olive branch, nestling, chicken, larva, chrysalis, tadpole, whelp, cub, pullet, fry, callow, codlin, codling, foetus, calf, colt, pup, foal, kitten, lamb, lambkin, aurelia, caterpillar, cocoon, nymph, nympha, orphan, pupa, staddle, girl, lass, lassie, wench, miss, damsel, demoiselle, maid, maiden, virgin, hoyden, infantine, infantile, puerile, boyish, girlish, childish, babyish, kittenish, baby, newborn, unfledged, new-fledged, callow, in the cradle, in swaddling clothes, in long clothes, in arms, in leading strings, at the breast, in one's teens.Littleness
N littleness, smallness, exiguity, inextension, parvitude, parvity, duodecimo, Elzevir edition, epitome, microcosm, rudiment, vanishing point, thinness, dwarf, pygmy, pigmy, Liliputian, chit, pigwidgeon, urchin, elf, atomy, dandiprat, doll, puppet, Tom Thumb, Hop-o'-my-thumb, manikin, mannikin, homunculus, dapperling, cock-sparrow, animalcule, monad, mite, insect, emmet, fly, midge, gnat, shrimp, minnow, worm, maggot, entozoon, bacteria, infusoria, microzoa, phytozoaria, microbe, grub, tit, tomtit, runt, mouse, small fry, millet seed, mustard seed, barleycorn, pebble, grain of sand, molehill, button, bubble, point, atom, fragment, powder, point of a pin, mathematical point, minutiae, micrometer, vernier, scale, microphotography, photomicrography, micrography, photomicrograph, microphotograph, microscopy, microscope (optical instruments), little, small, minute, diminutive, microscopic, microzoal, inconsiderable, exiguous, puny, tiny, wee, petty, minikin, miniature, pygmy, pigmy, elfin, undersized, dwarf, dwarfed, dwarfish, spare, stunted, limited, cramp, cramped, pollard, Liliputian, dapper, pocket, portative, portable, duodecimo, dumpy, squat, short, impalpable, intangible, evanescent, imperceptible, invisible, inappreciable, insignificant, inconsiderable, trivial, infinitesimal, homoeopathic, atomic, subatomic, corpuscular, molecular, rudimentary, rudimental, embryonic, vestigial, weazen, scant, scraggy, scrubby, thin, granular, shrunk, brevipennate, in a small compass, in a nutshell, on a small scale, minutely, microscopically.For further exploring for "chit" in Webster Dictionary Online
