Etymograph

English

bit

Bit comes from Middle English bitte.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bitte1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1789bit1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bit
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1789, Olaudah Equiano: “I trusted to the Lord to be with me;…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bitteWiktionary, English bit
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1789bitWiktionary, English bit. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1789, Olaudah Equiano: “I trusted to the Lord to be with me;…”

A compound of bita ‘bit’ + bite ‘a bite’

Proto-Germanic *bitô

Old English bita ‘bit’

Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- ‘to split’

Proto-West Germanic *biti ‘bite’

Old English bite ‘a bite’

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Today it means

noun A small amount of something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bit”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English bitte / bit