tit

¹

[ tit ]

noun

1. a titmouse.
2. any of various other small birds.
3. Archaic. a girl or young woman; hussy.
4. Archaic. a small or poor horse; nag.

tit

²

[ tit ]

noun

1. a teat.
2. Slang: Vulgar. a breast.

tit

³

[ tit ]

noun

1. tit for tat.

tit.

⁴

abbreviation for

1. title.

Tit.

⁵

abbreviation for

, Bible.

1. Titus.

Tit.

¹

abbreviation for

1. Titus

tit

²

/ tɪt /

noun

1. slang.
   a female breast
2. a teat or nipple
3. derogatory.
   a girl or young woman
4. slang.
   a despicable or unpleasant person: often used as a term of address

tit

³

/ tɪt /

noun

1. any of numerous small active Old World songbirds of the family Paridae (titmice), esp those of the genus Parus (bluetit, great tit, etc). They have a short bill and feed on insects and seeds
2. any of various similar small birds
3. archaic.
   a worthless or worn-out horse; nag

Word History and Origins

Origin of tit¹

First recorded in 1540–50; short for titmouse ( def ); akin to Old Norse titlingr “sparrow,” Norwegian tite “titmouse”; tit ²

Origin of tit²

First recorded before 1100; Middle English, Old English tit(t) “teat, pap, breast”; cognate with Middle Low German, Middle Dutch titte, German Zitze, Norwegian titta; akin to tit ¹; teat ( def )

Origin of tit³

Perhaps variant of tip ⁴

Word History and Origins

Origin of tit¹

Old English titt; related to Middle Low German title, Norwegian titta

Origin of tit²

C16: perhaps of imitative origin, applied to small animate or inanimate objects; compare Icelandic tittr pin

Example Sentences

She reeled off a list of villages nearer the border - now deserted and destroyed after the past year of tit for tat exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel.

From BBC

“I hate the term breast cancer. Call it tit cancer. And don’t send me ‘you got this mama’ or ‘we’re gonna kick cancer’s butt!’

From Los Angeles Times

Russian statecraft follows closely the principle of proportionality, which means for every tit, there must be a tat.

From BBC

The two well-deserved Trump impeachments are so different from Mayorkas’ and the Biden attempt they shouldn’t even be called tit for tat.

From Los Angeles Times

Whatever the specifics of this latest tit for tat, there is a more fundamental priority for both sides: deterrence – a more solid certainty that strikes on its own soil will not happen again.

From BBC