sitten

See also: Sitten

English

Alternative forms

• sittin

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪtən

Etymology 1

From Middle English siten, seten, from Old English seten, ġeseten, past participle of sittan (“to sit”). Equivalent to sit +‎ -en (past participle). Cognate with Dutch gezeten, German gesessen.

Verb

sitten

1. (archaic, UK dialectal) past participle of sit; alternative form of sat
   • 1810, Legh Richmond, The fathers of the English church:

     For though we your brethren, who heretofore by our vocation have sitten in the chair of Moses, and be ghostly captains as Moses and Joshua unto you; [...]

Adjective

sitten (comparative more sitten, superlative most sitten)

1. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Seated.
   • a1513, W. Dunbar, Poems (1998) 155:

     The tailȝeour was no thing weill sittin, He left the sadill.

   • c1560, A. Scott, Poems (S.T.S.) ii. 38:

     He micht counter Will on horss, For Sym wes bettir sittin Nor Will.

2. Settled; stationary; not easily stirred or moved.
   • 1671, J. Livingston, Let. to Parishoners Ancram 15:

     Their fire edge might help to kindle-up old sitten-up professours.

Derived terms

• well-sitten
• sitten-up

Etymology 2

From Middle English sitten, equivalent to sit +‎ -en (plural present).

Verb

sitten

1. (obsolete) plural simple present of sit
   • 1579, Edmund Spenser, The Shepheardes Calender:

     Such merimake holy saints doth queme,
     But we here sytten as drownd in a dreme.

   • 1593, Michael Drayton, “The Eighth Eglog”, in Idea the Shepheards Garland, […], London: […] [T. Orwin] for Thomas Woodcocke, […], →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne] C[ollier], editor, Idea the Shepheards Garland, [London]: [Privately printed], 1870, →OCLC, page 64:

     This were as good as curds for our Jone, / When at a night we ſitten by the fire.

   • 1659, Henry More, The Immortality of the Soul, Book I, Canto IV:

     While as they sitten soft in the sweet rayes
     Or vitall vest of the lives generall,

   • 1738, Rev. John Whalley, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     Then listen, Thenot, to my mournful lay,
     As wee these willows sitten here emong;

Anagrams

• ettins, settin', teints, testin'

Finnish

Etymology

From siten, formed from se +‎ -ten; the t has doubled likely by contamination from dialectal siittä (which is se, stem si(i)- + -ttä, the same suffix as in että and jotta). Not related to Swedish sedan or Old English siþþan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsitːen/, [ˈs̠it̪ːe̞n]
• Rhymes: -itːen
• Syllabification^(key): sit‧ten

Adverb

sitten

1. then (soon afterward; next in order of place)

   Ensin syödään, sitten jutellaan. ― First we eat, then we chat.

   Maksa sitten verelläsi! ― Then pay with your blood!

   Sitten voisimme puhua vaikka tästä. ― Next we could talk about this.

2. when, (when)ever (with the conjunction kun)

   Sitten, kun jään eläkkeelle... ― When I retire...

   Lähdemme sitten, kun olet valmis. ― We’ll go whenever you’re ready.

   Sitten kun olet tehnyt läksysi, voimme katsella televisiota. ― When you have done your homework, we can watch the television.

3. then, in that case

   No sitten ei ole mitään hätää. ― Well then it's not urgent.

4. Used for emphasis, often without any additional meaning.

   ...tai sitten ei ― ...or not

   Puhutaan siitä sitten ensi kerralla. ― Let's just talk about it the next time around.

   1. used to emphasize or intensify questions

      entä sitten? ― so what?

      mitä sitten? ― then what?

      Oliko aiempi väitteesi sitten vain liioittelua? ― So was your earlier claim just an exaggeration?

   2. acts as an emphatic modifier for tahansa ... (-kin) expressions used to mean "whatever", "whoever"...

      Kenelle tahansa sen sitten annatkin, älä anna sitä minulle. ― Whomever you give it to, don't give it to me.

Postposition

sitten [with nominative]

1. ago

   tunti sitten ― one hour ago

   kolme vuotta sitten ― three years ago

   kauan sitten ― long ago

   pitkän aikaa sitten ― a long time ago

Preposition

sitten [with genitive]

1. since

   Emme ole tavanneet sitten viime vuoden.

   We haven't met since last year.

Derived terms

• sittenkin
• sittenkään

 

See also

• jahka

Further reading

• “sitten”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03

Anagrams

• sentit, sentti, sentti-

Hungarian

Etymology

sitt +‎ -en (case suffix)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃitːɛn]
• Hyphenation: sit‧ten

Noun

sitten

1. superessive singular of sitt

Low German

Etymology

From Middle Low German sitten, Old Saxon sittian.

Cognates

Cognate with Dutch zitten, German sitzen, English sit, West Frisian sitte, Danish sidde.

Verb

sitten (past singular seet, past participle seten, auxiliary verb hebben)

1. to sit

Conjugation

Conjugation of sitten (class 5 strong verb)

infinitive	sitten
indicative	present	preterite
1st person singular	sitt	seet
2nd person singular	sitts(t)	seets(t)
3rd person singular	sitt(t)	seet
plural	sittt, sitten	seten
imperative	present	—
singular	sitt
plural	sittt
participle	present	past
	sitten	(e)seten, geseten
Note: This conjugation is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects.

• The plural present indicative sittt is usually spelled sitt but also sitt't.

Usage note:

• The conjugation given is for a dialect which merges all open-mid and close-open vowels and apocopates /ə/. As such it is lacking many distinctions which are grammatical in other dialects.

Basic forms in Münsterland:

• infinitive: sitten ((to) sit)
• third person singular present indicative: sitt (sits)
• first and third person singular past indicative: satt (sat)
• third person plural past indicative: sätten (sat)
• past participle: siäten (sat)

References

• G. Ungt: Twee Geschichten in Mönstersk Platt. Ossmanns Jans in de Friümde un Ossmanns Jans up de Reise. Münster, 1861.

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch sitten.

Verb

sitten

1. to sit, to be seated
2. to sit down
3. to settle (of a sore)
4. to be located, to be present
5. to reside, to live

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: zitten
• Limburgish: zitte

Further reading

• “sitten (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “sitten (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

Middle English

Alternative forms

• zitten, zitte (Kent)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sed-

Proto-Indo-European *-yeti

Proto-Indo-European *sédyeti

Proto-Germanic *sitjaną

Proto-West Germanic *sittjan

Old English sittan

Middle English sitten

From Old English sittan.

Verb

sitten

1. to sit

Descendants

• English: sit
• Scots: sit
• Yola: zit

References

• “sitten, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *sittjan.

Verb

sitten

1. to sit
2. to be situated, to live

Inflection

Conjugation of sitten (strong class 5 j-present)

infinitive	sitten
indicative	present	past
1st person singular	sitto, sitton	sat
2nd person singular	sitis, sitist	sāti, sātis
3rd person singular	sitit	sat
1st person plural	sitten	sātun
2nd person plural	sitet	sātut
3rd person plural	sittent	sātun
subjunctive	present	past
1st person singular	sitte	sāti
2nd person singular	sittes, sittest	sāti, sātis
3rd person singular	sitte	sāti
1st person plural	sitten	sātin
2nd person plural	sittet	sātit
3rd person plural	sitten	sātin
imperative	present
singular	siti
plural	sitet
participle	present	past
	sittendi	setan, gisetan

Derived terms

• bisitten

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: sitten
  • Dutch: zitten
  • Limburgish: zitte

Further reading

• “sitten”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old High German

Verb

sitten

1. Alternative form of sizzen