GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Found 2 definitions

      
Sat , imp. of Sit. [Written also sate.]
1913 Webster

      
Sit, v. i. [imp. Sat  (Sate , archaic); p. p. Sat (Sitten , obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Sitting.] [OE. sitten, AS.  sittan; akin to OS. sittian, OFries. sitta, D. zitten, G. sitzen, OHG. sizzen, Icel. sitja, SW. sitta, Dan. sidde, Goth. sitan, Russ. sidiete, L. sedere, Gr. ἔζεσθαι, Skr. sad. √154.  Cf. Assess,Assize, Cathedral, Chair, Dissident, Excise, Insidious, Possess, Reside, Sanhedrim, Séance, Seat, n., Sedate, 4th Sell, Siege, Session, Set, v. t., Sizar, Size, Subsidy.]To rest upon the haunches, or the lower extremity of the trunk of the body; -- said of human beings, and sometimes of other animals; as, to sit on a sofa, on a chair, or on the ground.
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And he came and took the book put of the right hand of him that sate upon the seat.
Bible (1551) (Rev. v. 7.)

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I pray you, jest, sir, as you sit at dinner.
Shak.

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To perch; to rest with the feet drawn up, as birds do on a branch, pole, etc.
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To remain in a state of repose; to rest; to abide; to rest in any position or condition.
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And Moses said to . . . the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?
Num. xxxii. 6.

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Like a demigod here sit I in the sky.
Shak.

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To lie, rest, or bear; to press or weigh; -- with on; as, a weight or burden sits lightly upon him.
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The calamity sits heavy on us.
Jer. Taylor.

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To be adjusted; to fit; as, a coat sits well or ill.
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This new and gorgeous garment, majesty,
Sits not so easy on me as you think.
Shak.

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To suit one well or ill, as an act; to become; to befit; -- used impersonally. [Obs.]Chaucer.

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To cover and warm eggs for hatching, as a fowl; to brood; to incubate.
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As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not.
Jer. xvii. 11.

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To have position, as at the point blown from; to hold a relative position; to have direction.
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Like a good miller that knows how to grind, which way soever the wind sits.
Selden.

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Sits the wind in that quarter?
Sir W. Scott.

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To occupy a place or seat as a member of an official body; as, to sit in Congress.
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To hold a session; to be in session for official business; -- said of legislative assemblies, courts, etc.; as, the court sits in January; the aldermen sit to-night.
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To take a position for the purpose of having some artistic representation of one's self made, as a picture or a bust; as, to sit to a painter.
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To sit at, to rest under; to be subject to. [Obs.] “A farmer can not husband his ground so well if he sit at a great rent”. Bacon. -- To sit at meat or To sit at table, to be at table for eating. -- To sit down. (a) To place one's self on a chair or other seat; as, to sit down when tired.  (b) To begin a siege; as, the enemy sat down before the town.  (c) To settle; to fix a permanent abode. Spenser. (d) To rest; to cease as satisfied. “Here we can not sit down, but still proceed in our search.” Rogers. -- To sit for a fellowship, to offer one's self for examination with a view to obtaining a fellowship. [Eng. Univ.] -- To sit out. (a) To be without engagement or employment. [Obs.] Bp. Sanderson. (b) To outstay.  (c) to refrain from participating in [an activity such as a dance or hand at cards]; used especially after one has recently participated in an earlier such activity.  The one sitting out does not necessarily have to sit during the activity foregone. -- To sit under, to be under the instruction or ministrations of; as, to sit under a preacher; to sit under good preaching. -- To sit up, to rise from, or refrain from, a recumbent posture or from sleep; to sit with the body upright; as, to sit up late at night; also, to watch; as, to sit up with a sick person. “He that was dead sat up, and began to speak.” Luke vii. 15.
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