vit

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *weta, from Proto-Indo-European *wétos (compare Proto-Slavic *věkъ (“age (period of time)”), Greek έτος (étos), Latin vetus (“old”), Old Church Slavonic ветъхъ (vetŭxŭ, “old, aged, ancient”)).

Noun

vit m (plural vite or vjet, definite viti, definite plural vitet or vjetët)

1. year

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin vectis (“bar, pole”).

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin vitis f (“vine”).

Further reading

• “vit” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “vit” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɪt]

Participle

vit

1. masculine singular passive participle of vít

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *witją from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see, know”). Cognate to English wit, archaic Dutch wit, akin to Old Saxon giwit.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse vit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vi/

Etymology 1

See voir.

Etymology 2

See vivre.

Etymology 3

From Old French vit, from Latin vectis (“rod, lever”).

Further reading

• “vit”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Etymology

From Old Norse vit, from Proto-Germanic *witją. Cognate with Faroese vit, Danish vid, Swedish vett, English wit, Dutch wit, German Witz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɪːt/
• Rhymes: -ɪːt

Noun

vit n (genitive singular vits, no plural)

1. wits, intelligence
   • Hávamál (English source, Icelandic sourve)

     Vits er þörf

     þeim er víða ratar.

     Dælt er heima hvað.

     Að augabragði verður

     sá er ekki kann

     og með snotrum situr.

     Wits must he have

     who wanders wide,

     But all is easy at home;

     At the witless man

     the wise shall wink

     When among such men he sits.

2. reason, sense

   Viðskiptavit.

   Business acumen.

3. knowledge
4. awareness, sentience

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian vite.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /viːt/

Noun

vit m (plural viti or vitien or vitijiet)

1. screw
2. tap
3. (by extension) water tap

Verb

vit

1. imperative of vite

Etymology 1

From Old Norse vit, from Proto-Germanic *witją. Cognate with Faroese vit, Norwegian Bokmål vett, Swedish vett, Danish vid, English wit, Dutch wit, German Witz.

Etymology 2

From the Old Norse vit, the imperative form of Old Norse vita, from Proto-Germanic *witaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“see”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvit/

Etymology 1

From Latin vectis m (“rod”).

Etymology 2

see veoir

Etymology 3

see vivre

Alternative forms

• mit — ← erum vit

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *wet, *wit. Cognate with Old English wit, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐍄 (wit).

Pronoun

vit

1. (personal) first-person dual pronoun; we two

Verb

vit

1. second-person present imperative of vita

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *otъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvit/

Preposition

vit (with genitive)

1. of, from; by

Participle

vit (Cyrillic spelling вит)

1. masculine singular passive past participle of viti

Alternative forms

• hvit (pre-1906 spelling)

Etymology

From Old Swedish hvīter, from Old Norse hvítr, from Proto-Germanic *hwītaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweytos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈviːt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

vit

1. of the colour white

   Antonym: svart

   Hyponyms: benvit, blåvit, elfenbensvit, gråvit, gulvit, snövit

2. (about person) who has light skin
   • 1917, August Strindberg, “Sagan om Stig Storverks son.”, in Hövdingaminnen, page 11:

     – De ljusa männen äkta ibland mörka kvinnor, och deras barn bli ljusa; men ännu aldrig har en svart man fått en vit kvinna

     – The light men sometimes marry dark women, and their children become light; but yet never has a black man got a white woman.

   • 2012, Görrel Espelund, Andreas Karlsson, “Historien väger tungt för Sydafrikas unga”, in Sydsvenskan‎:

     En politisk affisch där en vit man och en svart kvinna håller om varandra väcker debatt i Sydafrika.

     A political poster where a white man and a black woman hug each other is provoking debate in South Africa.

3. signifying honesty and openness
   • 2014, Johanna Karlsson, “Han ville få sin lön – men fick då sparken”, in Kvällsposten‎:

     Mycket jämfört med de som betalades svart, men inte mycket för två månaders heltidsarbete på vitt kontrakt.

     Much compared to what was paid illicitly, but not much for two months' full-time work with a legitimate contract.

4. (about a period of time) dry, without alcohol consumption
   • 2010, “"Vad var viktigast för dig i veckan?"”, in Göteborgs-Posten‎:

     En person berättade att det viktigaste som hänt var att han hade haft en vit vecka. Han hade alkoholproblem och stod för det.

     One person said that the most important thing that happened was that he had a dry week. He had alcohol problems and stood for it.

   • 2010, “Läkare ser vit januari som ”meningslös, medicinskt sett””, in Dagens Nyheter‎:

     Att göra januari till en vit månad, efter att ha konsumerat väl mycket alkohol under det år som passerat, är inget som ger någon positiv hälsoeffekt.

     Making January a dry month, after consuming a good deal of alcohol during the last year, is not something that will have any positive health effect.

5. (about a period of time) with snow
   • 2005, “Ingen vit jul i södra Sverige”, in Dagens Nyheter‎:

     Statistiskt sett får man bege sig norr om Siljan för att försäkra sig om en vit jul.

     Statistically you have to go north of Siljan to make sure you have a white Christmas.

   • 2008, Karin Abrahamsson, “Sverige fick en vit påsk”, in Aftonbladet‎:

     Det blev en vit påsk i hela Sverige.

     It became a white Easter in all of Sweden.

   • 2011, Mikael Anjou, “Ingen snö så vitt man kan se”, in Sydsvenskan‎:

     Hösten är varm, men blir det en vit vinter i Skåne, som de två senaste, eller blir det en våt, som vanligt?

     The autumn is warm, but will it be a white winter in Skåne, like the last two, or will it be wet, as usual?

6. a style of portion snus that has not been post-moisturized, is less runny, and has a more even taste

   Synonym: white

   Coordinate term: original

   • 2019, Joakim Almén, “Det här är svenskarnas favoritsnus”, in Café‎:

     Försäljningen av vitt snus ökade med 255(!) procent medan nikotinfritt snus ökade med 20 procent.

     White snus sales increased by 255(!) percent while nicotine-free snus increased by 20 percent.

See also

• vitt (noun)

Further reading

• vit in Svensk ordbok.