Kit

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɪt/
• Rhymes: -ɪt

English from the 14th century, from a Dutch kitte, a wooden vessel made of hooped staves. Related to Dutch kit "tankard". The further etymology is unknown.

The transfer of meaning to the contents of a soldier's knapsack dates to the late 18th century, extended use of any collection of necessaries used for travelling dates to the first half of the 19th century.

The further widening of the sense to a collection of parts sold for the buyer to assemble emerges in US English in the mid 20th century.

Full definition of kit

Noun

1. A circular wooden vessel, made of hooped staves.
2. A kind of basket made from straw of rushes, especially for holding fish; by extension, the contents of such a basket, used as a measure of weight.
• 1961 18 Jan, Guardian (cited after OED):
3. He was pushing a barrow on the fish dock, wheeling aluminium kits which, when full, each contain 10 stone of fish.
4. A collection of items forming the equipment of a soldier, carried in a knapsack.
5. Any collection of items needed for a specific purpose, especially for use by a workman, or personal effects packed for travelling.Always carry a good first aid kit.
6. A collection of parts sold for the buyer to assemble.I built the entire car from a kit.
7. (UK, sports) The standard set of clothing, accessories and equipment worn by players.
• 2011, November 10, Jeremy Wilson, England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report, A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After Fifa’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward.
8. (UK, informal) Clothing.Get your kit off and come to bed.
9. (computing, informal) A full software distribution, as opposed to a patch or upgrade.

Derived terms

Verb

1. (transitive) To assemble or collect something into kits or sets or to give somebody a kit. See also kit out and other derived phrases.We need to kit the parts for the assembly by Friday, so that manufacturing can build the tool.

Adjective

1. Something which came originally in kit form.kit car

A short form of kitten. From the 16th century (spelled kytte, kitt).

From the 19th century also extended to other young animals (mink, fox, muskrat, etc.), and to a species of small fox ("kit-fox").

Noun

1. kitten
2. kit fox

16th century, perhaps from cithara

Noun

1. a kit violin
• GrewA dancing master's kit.
• Charles Dickens, Bleak HousePrince Turveydrop then tinkled the strings of his kit with his fingers, and the young ladies stood up to dance.

ca. 1880, from German kitte, kütte.

Noun

1. a school of pigeons, especially domesticated, trained pigeons

Anagrams

• ITK
• tik