bitt (bit)

[Formerly, and still occasionally, written bit, but usually in pl. bitts, bits, early mod. E. beetes; hence F. bittes, formerly bites, pl., = Sp. bit as, pl., = Pg. abitas, pl., = It. bitte, pl., bitts. Origin uncertain; connected in sense, and, in the early mod. E. spelling beetes, in form, with Sw. be ting = Dan. beding, a bitt, bitts, > D. beting = G. bäting, a bitt; with compounds, Sw. beting bult = Dan. be dings bolt, a bitt-bolt; D. beting houten, pl., = G. bätinghölzer, pl., bitts (D. hout = G. holz, wood). Sw. beting, = Dan. beding, means lit. 'baiting, pasturing,' as a horse, by tethering it (= AS. bæting, beting, a rope, a cable), Sw. beta = Dan. bede = Icel. beita, bait, pasture, = AS. bætan, bridle, rein in, curb, orig. causal of Sw. bit a = Dan. bide = Icel. bit a = AS. bītan, bite: see bait1, bite, bit1. The ML. bit us, a whipping-post, and Icel. bit i, a cro beam in a house, a thwart in a boat, are, for different reasons, prob. neither of them the source of the E. word.] Naut., a strong post of wood or iron to which cables are made fast. Bitts are fastened to the deck, generally in pairs, and are named according to their uses, riding butts, and are IMG:content-2117.png:[blocks in formation]