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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

kit.

A circular wooden vessel, made of hooped staves.

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈkɪt/[ˈkʰɪt]
  1. A circular wooden vessel, made of hooped staves.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A kind of basket made especially from straw of rushes, especially for holding fish; by extension, the contents of such a basket or similar container, used as a measure of weight.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A collection of items forming the equipment of a soldier, carried in a knapsack.

    countable · uncountable
  4. Any collection of items needed for a specific purpose, especially for use by a workman, or personal effects packed for travelling.

    countable · uncountable
    Always carry a good first-aid kit.
  5. A collection of parts sold for the buyer to assemble.

    countable · uncountable
    I built the entire car from a kit.
  6. The standard set of clothing, accessories and equipment worn by players.

    UK · countable · uncountable
  7. Clothing.

    UK · countable · informal · uncountable
    Get your kit off and come to bed.
  8. A full software distribution, as opposed to a patch or upgrade.

    countable · informal · uncountable
  9. The set of skills and abilities chosen for a playable character.

    countable · uncountable
  10. A drum kit.

    countable · uncountable
  11. The whole set; kit and caboodle.

    countable · dated · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English kyt, kytt, kytte, from Middle Dutch kitte (“a wooden vessel made of hooped staves”). Related to Dutch kit (“tankard”) (see below). The further etymology is unknown. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kitjō-, *kut-, which would be related to the root of Dutch kot (“ramshackle house”), itself of non-Indo-European origin. 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 American English in the mid 20th century.

verb/ˈkɪt/[ˈkʰɪt]
  1. To assemble or collect something into kits.

    transitive
    We need to kit the parts for the assembly by Friday, so that manufacturing can build the tool.
  2. To equip (somebody) with something.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English kyt, kytt, kytte, from Middle Dutch kitte (“a wooden vessel made of hooped staves”). Related to Dutch kit (“tankard”) (see below). The further etymology is unknown. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kitjō-, *kut-, which would be related to the root of Dutch kot (“ramshackle house”), itself of non-Indo-European origin. 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 American English in the mid 20th century.

noun/ˈkɪt/[ˈkʰɪt]
  1. A kitten (young cat).

  2. A cat in general.

    broadly
  3. A kit fox (Vulpes macrotis).

  4. A young fox.

  5. A young beaver.

  6. A young ferret.

  7. A young skunk.

  8. A young rabbit.

  9. A young weasel.

Where this word comes from

[Alt: A young red fox emerging from a burrow, looking at the camera] A short form of kitten or kitling. From the 16th century, spelled kytte, kitt. From the 19th century also extended to other young animals (beaver, fox, mink, muskrat, etc.), and to a species of small fox (kit fox). Later usage (for other animals) perhaps influenced by chit.

noun/ˈkɪt/[ˈkʰɪt]
  1. Synonym of kit violin.

Where this word comes from

16th century, perhaps from cithara.

noun/ˈkɪt/[ˈkʰɪt]
  1. A flock of pigeons, especially domesticated, trained pigeons and especially when flying together.

    collective
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from German kitte, Kütte (“flock of doves”) (circa 1880).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.