bit

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bit"

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Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Bitara.

Symbol

bit

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Berinomo.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Berinomo terms

English

snaffle bit (etymology 1, noun sense 2)

drill bit (etymology 1, noun sense 3)

key bit (etymology 1, noun sense 15)

Pronunciation

• enPR: bĭt, IPA^(key): /ˈbɪt/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪ̝t/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈbət/
• Rhymes: -ɪt
• Hyphenation: bit

Etymology 1

From Middle English bitte, bite, from Old English bita (“bit; fragment; morsel”) and bite (“a bite; cut”), from Proto-Germanic *bitô and *bitiz; both from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”). More at bite.

Cognates

Cognate with West Frisian bit, Saterland Frisian Bit, Dutch bit, German Low German Beet, Biet, German Biss and Bissen, Danish bid, Swedish bit, Icelandic biti.

Noun

bit (plural bits)

1. A small amount of something.

   Synonyms: (of food) morsel, piece, scrap; see also Thesaurus:modicum

   There were bits of paper all over the floor.

   Does your leg still hurt? —Just a bit now.

   I've done my bit; I expect you to do yours.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, “The Beanspiller”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 186:

     ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough! […] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’

   • 2026 March 18, Chris Conway talks to Andy Comfort, “The RAIL Interview”, in RAIL, page 32:

     "I suppose my first objective was to try and help a department, which was very much civil servants who are rotating around on a regular basis, to try and understand public transport a wee bit better and try and understand what was required to run a bus and rail network," muses Conway.

3. A piece of metal placed in a horse's mouth and connected to the reins to direct the animal.

   Synonyms: kimberwicke, pelham, snaffle

   A horse hates having a bit put in its mouth.

5. A rotary cutting tool, fitted to a drill, brace, or router, used to bore or drill holes or to remove material from the profile of the workpiece.

   Hyponyms: drill bit, drillbit

   router bit;   chamfering bit

6. Applied to a various small units of currency and coins.

   Synonyms: coin, piece

   1. (dated, UK) A coin of a specified value.

      a threepenny bit

   3. (historical, US and Canada) A unit of currency worth one eighth of a dollar, originally of a Spanish dollar but later also US or Canadian; also, a coin with this value, in particular the silver Spanish real.

      A quarter is two bits.

      • 1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 16:

        He left after shaking her down for four bits for carrying the bags.

   4. (obsolete, US and Canada) A coin of a value similar but not equal to this, in particular the 'short bit', i.e. the ten-cent piece or dime.
      • 1941, Emily Carr, chapter 10, in Klee Wyck‎^[4]:

        The smallest coin we had in Canada in early days was a dime, worth ten cents. The Indians called this coin “a Bit”. Our next coin, double in buying power and in size, was a twenty-five cent piece and this the Indians called “Two Bits”.

   5. (historical) A unit of currency and coin of the British West Indies worth six black dogs, originally equal to one-eighth of a Spanish dollar but later increasingly debased to one tenth, one eleventh, one twelfth, etc.
      • 1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 6, in The Interesting Narrative, volume I:

        I trusted to the Lord to be with me; and at one of our trips to St. Eustatia, a Dutch island, I bought a glass tumbler with my half bit, and when I came to Montserrat I sold it for a bit, or sixpence.

   6. (historical) A unit of currency of the Dutch West Indies in the early 20th century, worth one fifth of a cent.
   7. Synonym of microbitcoin.
7. (informal) Specifically, a small amount of time.

   Synonyms: instant, jiffy, tick; see also Thesaurus:moment

   Antonyms: age, (US) while; see also Thesaurus:eon

   I'll be there in a bit; I need to take care of something first.

   He was here just a bit ago, but it looks like he's stepped out.

8. (informal) A small fraction above a whole number.

   The movie lasted for two and a bit hours.

9. (in the plural, informal, sports) Fractions of a second.

   Synonym: split-second

   The 400 metres race was won in 47 seconds and bits.

10. A portion of something.

    Synonyms: portion, share, segment; see also Thesaurus:piece

    I'd like a big bit of cake, please.

    • 2013 July-August, Catherine Clabby, “Focus on Everything”, in American Scientist:

      Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. […] A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that. Developed as a tool to electronically combine the sharpest bits of multiple digital images, focus stacking is a boon to biologists seeking full focus on a micron scale.

11. Somewhat; something, but not very great; also used like jot and whit to express the smallest degree. See also a bit.

    Am I bored? Not a bit of it!

    • 1835, Theodore Hook, Gilbert Gurney:

      My young companion was a bit of a poet.

13. A replaceable tip for a hand tool or power tool, comprising the portion that drives a fastener.

    Near-synonym: driver

    driver bit

15. (slang) A prison sentence, especially a short one.

    Synonym: bid

    • 1904, The Anamosa prison press, volume 7, Iowa. Colony of Detention at Anamosa:

      Had it not been for the influence of Mrs. Booth and Hope Hall I should still be grafting or doing a bit in some stir

    • 1916, Thomas Mott Osborne. Warden, Sing Sing Prison, N. Y., “Prison Reform”, in The Journal of sociologic medicine, volume 17, page 407:

      Before doing that I am going to tell you what was the result of my own incarceration, because I presume it may not be a secret to you, that I have done a "bit" myself, not the "bit" which the prosecuting attorney was so anxious to have me do.

    • 1994, Odie Hawkins, Lost Angeles, page 158:

      Chino didn't make me think of Dachau or that notorious joint in Angola, Louisiana, where a brother who had done a bit there told me how they used to cut the grass on the front lawn with their fingernails.

    • 2001, Andrew H. Vachss, Pain management:

      Not counting the days—that's okay for a county-time slap, but it'll make you crazy if you've got years to go on a felony bit.

16. An excerpt of material making up part of a show, comedy routine, etc.

    His bit about video games was not nearly as entertaining as the other segments of his show.

17. (slang) A gag or put-on; a humorous conceit, especially when insistently presented as true.

    Synonyms: shaggy dog story, wind up; see also Thesaurus:joke

    Are you serious, or is this a bit?

    • 2024 March 1, F1NN5TER, 3:36 from the start, in Coming Out‎^[5], archived from the original on 14 May 2024:

      Also, I'm bi. I like dudes! ...That's weird to say. Everything I say feels like a bit now, god dammit.

18. Ellipsis of bit part.

    She acted her bit in the opening scene.

20. The part of a key which enters the lock and acts upon the bolt and tumblers.
21. The cutting iron of a plane.
22. The bevelled front edge of an axehead along which the cutting edge runs.
23. (BDSM) A gag of a style similar to a bridle.
24. (MLE) A gun.

    Synonyms: (MLE) skeng, toy, wap; see also Thesaurus:firearm

    • 2013 December 23, Stephen Reynolds, 46:53 from the start, in Stephen Reynolds, director, Vendetta (film), spoken by Jimmy Vickers (Danny Dyer):

      Jimmy: I need to get my hands on some bits. If you’re still in the business.
      Ronnie (played by Nick Nevern): Oi!
      Trojan (played by Jean-Paul Van Cauwelaert): Ronnie.
      […]
      Trojan: Now that is a SIG Sauer P226.

Derived terms

• a bit
• a fair bit
• a little bit
• a little bit of bread and no cheese
• a lot of bit
• a wee bit
• behind the bit
• bergy bit
• bit and bit
• bit-banger
• bit between one's teeth
• bitbrace
• bit bucket
• bit-bucket
• bit by bit
• bitcom
• bit-faker
• bitlegging
• bitless
• bit lifter
• bitling
• bit of all right
• bit of alright
• bit of crumpet
• bit of fluff
• bit of homework
• bit of muslin
• bit of rough
• bit of skirt
• bit of stuff
• bit on the side
• bit part
• bit player
• bit role
• bits and bobs
• bits and pieces
• bit shank
• bitstarve
• bitstock
• bittock
• bitty
• blind bit
• blown to bits
• boring bit
• brace and bit
• cannon bit
• canon bit
• centerbit
• centrebit
• centre-bit
• chafe at the bit
• champ at the bit
• chicken bit
• chomp at the bit
• commit to the bit
• curb-bit
• curb bit
• devil's bit
• dogbit
• dog's dangly bits
• do one's bit
• drag bit
• every bit
• every little bit helps
• fall to bits
• fippenny bit
• Forstner bit
• frogbit
• German bit
• gouge bit
• hair of the dog that bit one
• itty-bitty
• key bit
• lip bit
• little bit
• Liverpool bit
• long bit
• marbit
• masterbit
• modesty bit
• naughty bit
• nose bit
• not a bit, not one bit
• not a bit of it
• picky bits
• pod bit
• quill bit
• quite a bit
• rearing bit
• rebit
• ring bit
• roller-cone bit
• rollercone bit
• roller cone bit
• rose bit
• sheep's-bit
• short bit
• sixpenny bit
• threepenny-bit
• threepenny bit
• tidbit
• Timbit
• time after bit
• tit bit
• tongue-lolling bit
• two-bit
• unbit
• wait-a-bit
• weather-bit

Related terms

• bits (“genitals”)

Translations

metal in horse's mouth

• Armenian: սանձ (hy) (sanj), լկամ (hy) (lkam)

  Old Armenian: դանդանաւանդ (dandanawand)

• Bulgarian: захапка f (zahapka)
• Catalan: mos (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 馬銜 / 马衔 (zh) (mǎxián)

• Czech: udidlo (cs) n
• Danish: bidsel n
• Dutch: bit (nl) n
• Esperanto: mordaĵo
• Estonian: suurauad
• Finnish: kuolain (fi), kuolaimet (fi) pl
• French: mors (fr) m

  Old French: frain

• Galician: freo (gl) m, bocado (gl) m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Gebiss (de) n, Mundstück (de) n
• Greek: στομίδα (el) n (stomída)

  Ancient Greek: χαλινός m (khalinós)

• Hungarian: zabla (hu)
• Ingrian: varukset
• Irish: béalbhach f
• Italian: morso (it) m, freno (it)
• Japanese: 馬銜 (ja) (ハミ, はみ, hami), 轡 (ja) (くつわ, kutsuwa)
• Khmer: បង្ខាំ (km) (bɑŋkʰam)
• Korean: 재갈 (ko) (jaegal)
• Kyrgyz: бөлүк (ky) (bölük), бөлүкчө (ky) (bölükcö), кесинди (ky) (kesindi), кесек (ky) (kesek), кесим (ky) (kesim), тилке (ky) (tilke), тилим (ky) (tilim), үзүм (ky) (üzüm), чагым (ky) (cagım), тешкич (ky) (teşkic), көзөч (ky) (közöc) бургу (ky) (burgu), ооздук (ky) (oozduk), ачкычтын урчугу (ky) (ackıctın urcugu), мүштөк (ky) (müştök), мундштук (ky) (mundştuk)
• Latin: frēnum n
• Latvian: laužņi pl, mutes dzelži pl
• Lithuanian: žąslai m pl
• Macedonian: ѓем m (ǵem), џем m (džem), жвал m (žval)
• Māori: piti
• Mongolian: амгай (mn) (amgai)
• Norman: mors m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bitt (no) n, bissel n

• Occitan: fren (oc) m
• Old Norse: beizl, beizla
• Polish: wędzidło (pl) n
• Portuguese: bocado (pt) m, bocal (pt) m, morso (pt) m, freio (pt) m
• Romanian: frâu (ro) n, zăbală (ro) f
• Russian: удила́ (ru) pl (udilá)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: жва̏ла f, жва̏ле f pl

  Latin: žvȁla (sh) f, žvȁle (sh) f pl

• Spanish: bocado (es) m
• Swahili: charaza (sw), lijamu
• Swedish: bett (sv) n
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: gem (tr), oyan (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: كم (gem), لكام (ligam)

• Ukrainian: вуди́ла pl (vudýla)
• Uzbek: suvluq (uz)
• Welsh: genfa f

rotary cutting tool

• Bulgarian: свредло n (svredlo), фреза (bg) m (freza)
• Czech: fréza (cs) f, vrták (cs) m
• Dutch: boortje (nl) n, bit (nl) m
• Finnish: poranterä (fi)
• French: foret (fr) m
• German: Bohrer (de) m
• Hebrew: מַקְדֵּחַ (he) m (maqdéaẖ)
• Italian: punta (it) f, punta di trapano
• Korean: 비트 (biteu)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: سِمۆ (simo)

• Lithuanian: grąžtas m
• Macedonian: сврдел m (svrdel)
• Māori: niho (mi), niho ore
• Norwegian: bit (no) n
• Polish: bit (pl) m
• Portuguese: broca (pt) f, pua (pt) f, verruma (pt) f
• Romanian: burghiu (ro) n
• Russian: сверло́ (ru) n (sverló)
• Slovak: vrták
• Spanish: broca (es) f
• Swahili: charaza (sw)
• Telugu: బిట్టు (te) (biṭṭu)
• Turkish: matkap (tr), delgi (tr)

coin of a specified value — see coin

ten-cent piece — see dime

eighth of a dollar

• Alabama: iskali
• Bulgarian: бит (bg) m (bit)
• Finnish: kahdeksasosadollari
• German: Bit (de) n
• Italian: ottavo di dollaro m
• Korean: 12센트 반 (12senteu ban)
• Navajo: yáál
• Spanish: octavo de dólar
• Swahili: charaza (sw)

coin worth about 12+¹⁄₂ cents; sum of 12+¹⁄₂ cents

• Bulgarian: бит (bg) m (bit)

small amount of something — see also a little,‎ dash,‎ pinch

• Armenian: կտոր (hy) (ktor)
• Bulgarian: късче (bg) n (kăsče), частица (bg) (častica)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: mica (ca) f, poquet m
• Chamicuro: naspejka
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: kousek (cs) m, troška (cs) f
• Dutch: beetje (nl), hapje (nl) (of food)
• Esperanto: peco, iometa
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: pala (fi), palanen (fi); osa (fi), osuus (fi) (small amount of work)
• French: petit morceau m, peu (fr) m
• German: Bisschen (de) n, Wenig n, Stück (de) n, Stückchen (de) n, Happen (de) m (of food)
• Irish: ruainne m, blúire m
• Italian: poco (it) m, poca (it) f, pezzetto (it) m, pezzettino m
• Japanese: ちょっと (ja) (chotto), 少々 (ja) (しょうしょう, shōshō), 少し (ja) (すこし, sukoshi)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 작은 조각 (jageun jogak), 도막 (ko) (domak)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: frustum n, morsum n, pauxillum n, tantillum n
• Lombardic: pizza
• Macedonian: парче n (parče), парченце n (parčence), трошка f (troška)
• Māori: pīhi, maramara
• Negerhollands: bitši
• Norman: morcé m (Jersey, Guernsey)
• Norwegian: bit (no) m
• Plautdietsch: Tips m, Bät n
• Polish: kawałek (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: bocado (pt) m, pedaço (pt) m, porção (pt) f, pitada (pt)
• Romanian: bucată (ro)
• Russian: кусо́к (ru) m (kusók)
• Scottish Gaelic: bìdeag f, criomag f, mìr m, car (gd) m
• Slovak: kúsok, úlomok, časť (sk)
• Slovene: košček m
• Spanish: grisma (es) f (Central America), colmo (es) m (Puerto Rico), pedacito m, trocito (es) m, pedacico m, trocico m, chin (es) m, pelín (es) m
• Swahili: charaza (sw)
• Swedish: bit (sv) c
• Telugu: ముక్క (te) (mukka), తుంపు (te) (tumpu), తునక (te) (tunaka)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Tibetan: ཅུང་ཙམ (cung tsam), ཅུང་ཟད (cung zad), ཅུང་ཟད་ཙམ (cung zad tsam)
• Turkish: azıcık (tr), biraz (tr), gıdım (tr), parça (tr), parçacık (tr), zerre (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: پارچه (parça)

• Vietnamese: tí (vi)

small amount of time

• Bulgarian: малко (bg) (malko) (adverb)
• Czech: chvilka (cs) f, okamžik (cs) m
• Finnish: hetki (fi)
• French: instant (fr) m, minute (fr) f, seconde (fr) f
• German: Moment (de) m
• Slovak: chvíľa, moment
• Turkish: an (tr), biraz (tr) (in usage, 'birazdan'), az sonra (tr)

sports: fraction of a second

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: osa (fi)

portion

• Bulgarian: парче (bg) n (parče)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: kousek (cs) m, dílek (cs) m
• Dutch: stuk (nl) n
• Finnish: pala (fi), palanen (fi); annos (fi)
• French: part (fr) f
• Hindi: टुकड़ा m (ṭukṛā)
• Italian: parte (it) f, porzione (it) f
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 조금 (ko) (jogeum), 약간 (ko) (yakgan)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: парче n (parče)
• Māori: inati, pīhi, tiri
• Norwegian: bit (no) m
• Polish: kawałek (pl) m inan, porcja (pl) f
• Portuguese: bocado (pt) m, pedaço (pt) m, porção (pt) f
• Russian: кусо́к (ru) m (kusók)
• Scottish Gaelic: bìdeag f, criomag f, mìr m
• Slovak: kúsok, časť (sk)
• Spanish: porción (es) f
• Swahili: charaza (sw)
• Swedish: bit (sv) c, lite (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: parça (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: پارچه (parça)

• Vietnamese: phần (vi)

somewhat; something, but not very great — see also a bit

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: jonkinlainen (fi)
• Scottish Gaelic: rudeigin m

replacable tip for a hand tool or power tool

• Bulgarian: бит (bg) m (bit)

slang: prison sentence

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Czech: flastr (cs) m
• Finnish: kakku (fi)

excerpt from show repertoire

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: juttu (fi)
• Slovak: časť (sk)

part of a key which enters the lock and acts upon the bolt and tumblers

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: haitta (fi)
• German: Bart (de) m
• Spanish: paletón m
• Swedish: ax (sv) n, nyckelax n
• Turkish: anahtar dişi

cutting iron of a plane

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: höylänterä

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Breton: ^{(please verify)} gweskenn (br) f (1), ^{(please verify)} un tammig (4)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} sedikit (id) (4)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} morso (1), ^{(please verify)} puncta (2), ^{(please verify)} pauco, ^{(please verify)} poco, ^{(please verify)} morsello (4)

Verb

bit (third-person singular simple present bits, present participle bitting, simple past and past participle bitted)

1. (transitive) To put a bridle upon; to put the bit in the mouth of (a horse).

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

See bite. Replaced a former strong past tense, seen in Middle English bot and Old English bāt.

Verb

bit

1. simple past of bite

   Your dog bit me!

2. (informal in US, archaic in UK) past participle of bite, bitten

   I've been bit by your dog!

Adjective

bit (not comparable)

1. (chiefly in combination) Having been bitten.

   Even though he's bit, of course the zombies would still chase him.

   • 1984 July, Field & Stream, volume 89, number 3, page 24:

     Fortunately, someone who gets skeeter-bit this much may develop an immunity to the skeeter's saliva

   • 1992, Robert Lewis Taylor, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters‎^[6]:

     Only the year before, the conjure man had brought in the Jackson County madstone, from way over in Illinois, for a white peddler that had been dog-bit, and the man went ahead and died just the same

   • 1998, Adele Griffin, Rainy Season‎^[7], page 121:

     He will not — he'll tell you not to be loco, climbing up trees late at night when you'll get bug-bit to death plus you can't see anything

Derived terms

• dogbit
• snakebit

Etymology 3

Coined by John Tukey in 1946 as an abbreviation of binary digit, probably influenced by connotations of “small portion”. First used in print 1948 by Claude Shannon. Compare byte and nybble, with similar food associations.

Noun

bit (plural bits)

2. (mathematics, computing) A binary digit, generally represented as a 1 or 0.
4. (computing) The smallest unit of storage in a digital computer, consisting of a binary digit.

   Synonym: b

6. (information theory, cryptography) Any datum that may take on one of exactly two values.

   status bits on IRC

   permission bits in a file system

7. (information theory) A unit of measure for information entropy.
   • 2011 May 17, Lisa Grossman, “Entropy Is Universal Rule of Language”, in Wired Science‎^[8], archived from the original on 16 March 2014:

     The researchers found that the original texts spanned a variety of entropy values in different languages, reflecting differences in grammar and structure.
     But strangely, the difference in entropy between the original, ordered text and the randomly scrambled text was constant across languages. This difference is a way to measure the amount of information encoded in word order, Montemurro says. The amount of information lost when they scrambled the text was about 3.5 bits per word.

8. A microbitcoin, or a millionth of a bitcoin (0.000001 BTC).

Hyponyms

• hidden bit
• high-order bit
• least significant bit
• most significant bit
• qubit

Derived terms

• 128-bit
• 16-bit
• 32-bit
• 64-bit
• 7-bit
• 8-bit
• ancilla bit
• bit array
• bitarray
• bit banging
• bit bashing
• bitboard
• bitcent
• bit-compressed
• bit-count integrity
• bit crusher
• bit decay
• bit-depth
• bit depth
• biter
• bitfield
• bitfilter
• bitflag
• bitflip
• bit interval
• bitlength
• bitline
• bit map
• bitmap
• bit-map
• bitmask
• bitness
• bit nibbler
• bit-paired
• bit plane
• bitplane
• bitpop
• bitrange
• bit rate
• bitrate
• bit rot
• bitrot
• bitscore
• bitset
• bit shift
• bit slice
• bitsquatting
• bitstate
• bitstream
• bitstring
• bit string
• bit stuffing
• bitter
• bit time
• BitTorrent
• bitvector
• bitwidth
• bitwise
• bucky bit
• fakebit
• gibibit
• great bit bucket in the sky
• high bit
• high order bit
• interbit
• kibibit
• killbit
• mebibit
• multibit
• parity bit
• pebibit
• quadbit
• quantum bit
• quettabit
• ronnabit
• sign bit
• sticky bit
• tebibit

Translations

math: binary digit

• Bulgarian: бит (bg) m (bit)
• Czech: bit (cs) m
• Dutch: bit (nl) m
• Esperanto: bito
• Finnish: bitti (fi)
• French: bit (fr) m
• German: Bit (de) n
• Greek: δυφίο (el) n (dyfío)
• Gujarati: દ્વયંક (dvayaṅk)
• Hebrew: ביט (he) m
• Hindi: द्वयंक (dvayaṅk)
• Hungarian: bit (hu)
• Icelandic: biti (is), tvíundatölustafur
• Ido: bico (io)
• Irish: giotán
• Japanese: ビット (ja) (bitto)
• Latvian: bits m
• Lithuanian: bitas (lt) m
• Macedonian: бит m (bit)
• Marathi: द्वयंक (dvayaṅka)
• Nepali: द्वयंक (dvayaṅka)
• Portuguese: bit (pt) m
• Russian: бит (ru) m (bit)
• Slovak: bit m
• Slovene: bit m
• Spanish: binio m
• Swahili: charaza (sw)
• Swedish: bit (sv) c
• Turkish: bit (tr)
• Ukrainian: біт m (bit)

computing: smallest unit of storage

• Arabic: بِت m (bit)
• Armenian: բիթ (hy) (bitʻ)
• Bulgarian: бит (bg) m (bit)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 位元 (wai⁶ jyun⁴), 二進制位 / 二进制位 (ji⁶ zeon³ zai³ wai^6-2), 二進制位元 / 二进制位元 (ji⁶ zeon³ zai³ wai⁶ jyun⁴)

  Hokkien: 位元 (zh-min-nan) (ūi-gôan)

  Mandarin: 位 (zh) (wèi), 比特 (zh) (bǐtè), 位元 (zh) (wèiyuán), 二進位元 / 二进位元 (èrjìn wèiyuán) (Taiwan), 二進制位元 / 二进制位元 (èrjìnzhì wèiyuán) (Taiwan), 二進制數字 / 二进制数字 (èrjìnzhì shùzì), 二進制位 / 二进制位 (èrjìnzhì wèi)

• Czech: bit (cs) m
• Dutch: bit (nl) m
• Esperanto: bito, duumo
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: bitti (fi)
• Georgian: ბიტი (biṭi)
• German: Bit (de) n
• Greek: μπιτ (el) n (bit), δυφίο (el) n (dyfío), δυαδικό ψηφίο (el) n (dyadikó psifío)
• Hebrew: ביט (he) m (bit)
• Hungarian: bit (hu)
• Icelandic: biti (is), tvíundatölustafur
• Japanese: ビット (ja) (bitto)
• Korean: 비트 (biteu)
• Latvian: bits m
• Lithuanian: bitas (lt) m
• Macedonian: бит m (bit)
• Polish: bit (pl) m
• Portuguese: bit (pt) m
• Romanian: bit (ro) m
• Russian: бит (ru) m (bit)
• Slovak: bit
• Slovene: bit m
• Spanish: binio m
• Swahili: charaza (sw)
• Swedish: bit (sv) c
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Tibetan: གནས (gnas), བྷིཊ (bhiṭ)
• Turkish: bit (tr)
• Vietnamese: bit (vi)
• Welsh: did m
• Yiddish: איינסל n (eynsl), ביט m (bit)

information theory: datum that may take on one of exactly two values

• Bulgarian: бит (bg) m (bit)
• Dutch: bit (nl) m
• Esperanto: bit (eo), duumo, bito
• Finnish: bitti (fi)
• German: Bit (de) n
• Greek: δυφίο (el) n (dyfío)
• Lithuanian: bitas (lt) m
• Macedonian: бит m (bit)
• Portuguese: bit (pt) m
• Slovak: bit
• Spanish: binio m
• Swahili: charaza (sw)
• Turkish: bit (tr)

information theory: unit of measure for information entropy

• Bulgarian: бит (bg) m (bit)
• Esperanto: bito

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} bit (id) (5,6)
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} bit (5,6)

See also

• ban, nat, qubit

Anagrams

• Bti, ITB, TBI, TiB, tib

Azerbaijani

Other scripts

Cyrillic		бит
Arabic		بیت

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *bït (“louse”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbit/, [ˈbit̪ʰ]

• Audio (Baku):

  (file)

Noun

bit (definite accusative biti, plural bitlər)

1. louse

Declension

Declension of bit

	singular	plural
nominative	bit	bitlər
definite accusative	biti	bitləri
dative	bitə	bitlərə
locative	bitdə	bitlərdə
ablative	bitdən	bitlərdən
definite genitive	bitin	bitlərin

Possessive forms of bit

	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	bitim	bitlərim
sənin (“your”)	bitin	bitlərin
onun (“his/her/its”)	biti	bitləri
bizim (“our”)	bitimiz	bitlərimiz
sizin (“your”)	bitiniz	bitləriniz
onların (“their”)	biti or bitləri	bitləri
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	bitimi	bitlərimi
sənin (“your”)	bitini	bitlərini
onun (“his/her/its”)	bitini	bitlərini
bizim (“our”)	bitimizi	bitlərimizi
sizin (“your”)	bitinizi	bitlərinizi
onların (“their”)	bitini or bitlərini	bitlərini
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	bitimə	bitlərimə
sənin (“your”)	bitinə	bitlərinə
onun (“his/her/its”)	bitinə	bitlərinə
bizim (“our”)	bitimizə	bitlərimizə
sizin (“your”)	bitinizə	bitlərinizə
onların (“their”)	bitinə or bitlərinə	bitlərinə
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	bitimdə	bitlərimdə
sənin (“your”)	bitində	bitlərində
onun (“his/her/its”)	bitində	bitlərində
bizim (“our”)	bitimizdə	bitlərimizdə
sizin (“your”)	bitinizdə	bitlərinizdə
onların (“their”)	bitində or bitlərində	bitlərində
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	bitimdən	bitlərimdən
sənin (“your”)	bitindən	bitlərindən
onun (“his/her/its”)	bitindən	bitlərindən
bizim (“our”)	bitimizdən	bitlərimizdən
sizin (“your”)	bitinizdən	bitlərinizdən
onların (“their”)	bitindən or bitlərindən	bitlərindən
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	bitimin	bitlərimin
sənin (“your”)	bitinin	bitlərinin
onun (“his/her/its”)	bitinin	bitlərinin
bizim (“our”)	bitimizin	bitlərimizin
sizin (“your”)	bitinizin	bitlərinizin
onların (“their”)	bitinin or bitlərinin	bitlərinin

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈbit]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -it

Noun

bit m (plural bits)

1. (computing) bit

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbɪt]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt
• Homophone: byt

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English bit, from binary digit.

Noun

bit m inan

1. (computing) bit

Declension

Declension of bit (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	bit	bity
genitive	bitu	bitů
dative	bitu	bitům
accusative	bit	bity
vocative	bite	bity
locative	bitu	bitech
instrumental	bitem	bity

Derived terms

• bitový
• gigabit
• kilobit
• megabit
• osmibitový
• šestnáctibitový
• terabit

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

bit

1. masculine singular passive participle of bít

Further reading

• “bit”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “bit”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “bit”, in Akademický slovník cizích slov at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz [Academic dictionary of foreign words] (in Czech), 1995

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bit
• Rhymes: -ɪt

Etymology 1

Ablaut of bijten.

Noun

bit n (plural bitten, diminutive bitje n)

1. bit (for a working animal)
2. bit (rotary cutting tool)
3. mouthguard

Etymology 2

From English bit.

Noun

bit m (plural bits, diminutive bitje n)

1. bit (binary digit)
2. bit (unit of storage)
3. bit (datum with two possible values)

French

Etymology

From English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bit/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

bit m (plural bits)

1. (computing) bit

Derived terms

• bit le moins significatif
• bit le plus significatif

Further reading

• “bit”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Hungarian

Etymology

From English bit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbit]
• Hyphenation: bit
• Rhymes: -it

Noun

bit (plural bitek)

1. (computing) bit (binary digit)

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	bit	bitek
accusative	bitet	biteket
dative	bitnek	biteknek
instrumental	bittel	bitekkel
causal-final	bitért	bitekért
translative	bitté	bitekké
terminative	bitig	bitekig
essive-formal	bitként	bitekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	bitben	bitekben
superessive	biten	biteken
adessive	bitnél	biteknél
illative	bitbe	bitekbe
sublative	bitre	bitekre
allative	bithez	bitekhez
elative	bitből	bitekből
delative	bitről	bitekről
ablative	bittől	bitektől
non-attributive possessive – singular	bité	biteké
non-attributive possessive – plural	bitéi	bitekéi

Possessive forms of bit

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	bitem	bitjeim
2nd person sing.	bited	bitjeid
3rd person sing.	bitje	bitjei
1st person plural	bitünk	bitjeink
2nd person plural	bitetek	bitjeitek
3rd person plural	bitjük	bitjeik

Derived terms

Compound words

• jelzőbit

Further reading

• bit in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2026).

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈbit/ [ˈbɪt̪̚]
• Rhymes: -it
• Syllabification: bit

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English bit (“binary digit”).

Noun

bit (plural bit-bit)

1. (computing) bit, smallest unit of storage

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Dutch biet, from Middle Dutch bete, from Latin bēta.

Noun

bit (plural bit-bit)

1. common beet, beetroot, sugar beet, and chard (Beta vulgaris)

   buah bit ― beetroot

Derived terms

• bit gula
• bit swiss

Etymology 3

Borrowed from English bit, from Middle English bitte, bite, from Old English bita (“bit; fragment; morsel”) and bite (“a bite; cut”), from Proto-Germanic *bitô and *bitiz; both from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd- (“to split”).

Noun

bit (plural bit-bit)

1. bit
   1. an excerpt of material making up part of a show, comedy routine, etc.
   2. a gag or put-on; a humorous conceit, especially when insistently presented as true

Further reading

• “bit”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English bit, from binary digit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbit/
• Rhymes: -it
• Hyphenation: bìt

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

bit m (invariable)

1. (computing) bit, smallest unit of storage.

Juba Arabic

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Semitic *bin-

Proto-Afroasiatic *-t

Proto-Semitic *-at-

Proto-Semitic *bint-

Arabic بِنْت (bint)

Sudanese Arabic بت (bitt)der.

Juba Arabic bit

Derived from Sudanese Arabic بت (bitt), from Arabic بِنْت (bint).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbit/, [ˈbit]

Noun

bit (plural banaat)

1. daughter
2. girl

Synonyms

• biniiya

References

• Ian Smith; Morris Timothy Ama (1985), A Dictionary of Juba Arabic & English‎^[9], 1st edition, Juba: The Committee of The Juba Cheshire Home and Centre for Handicapped Children, page 127

Karaim

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bït.

Noun

bit

1. louse

References

• N. A. Baskakov, S.M. Šapšala, editor (1973), “bit”, in Karaimsko-Russko-Polʹskij Slovarʹ [Karaim-Russian-Polish Dictionary], Moscow: Moskva, →ISBN

Khalaj

Perso-Arabic		بیت

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bït (“louse”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bɪt], [bi(ˑ)t], [biːt]
• (Xarrâbî) IPA^(key): [bɪt], [bit]

Noun

bit (definite accusative bitü, plural bitlər)

1. louse

Declension

Declension of bit

	singular	plural
nominative	bit	bitlər
genitive	bitü̂ñ	bitlərü̂ñ
dative	bitkə	bitlərkə
definite accusative	bitü	bitlərü
locative	bitçə	bitlərçə
ablative	bitdə	bitlərdə
instrumental	bitlə	bitlərlə
equative	bitvâra	bitlərvâra

References

• Doerfer, Gerhard (1980), Wörterbuch des Chaladsch (Dialekt von Charrab) [Khalaj dictionary] (in German), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó
• Doerfer, Gerhard (1988), Grammatik des Chaladsch [Grammar of Khalaj] (in German), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, →ISBN, →OCLC

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʲit/

Verb

bit

1. supine of biś

Maltese

Verb

bit

1. second-person singular imperative of biet

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

bit

1. alternative form of bite

Etymology 2

Noun

bit

1. alternative form of bitte

Middle Welsh

Alternative forms

• (imperative form): boet, poet

Verb

bit

1. third-person singular imperative of bot
2. alternative form of byð (third-person singular consuetudinal present/future)

Mutation

Mutated forms of bit

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
bit	uit / vit	mit	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Middle Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Nigerian Pidgin

Etymology

From English beat.

Verb

bit

1. beat

North Frisian

Alternative forms

• bitj (Föhr-Amrum)
• bite (Mooring)

Etymology

From Old Frisian bīta.

Verb

bit

1. (Sylt) to bite

Conjugation

Conjugation of bit (Sylt dialect)

infinitive I	bit
infinitive II	(tö) biten
past participle	beten
imperative	bit
	present	past
1st singular	bit	beet
2nd singular	betst	beetst
3rd singular	bet	beet
plural / dual	bit	beet
	perfect	pluperfect
1st singular	haa beten	her beten
2nd singular	heest beten	herst beten
3rd singular	heer beten	her beten
plural / dual	haa beten	her beten
	future (skel)	future (wel)
1st singular	skel bit	wel bit
2nd singular	sket bit	wet bit
3rd singular	skel bit	wel bit
plural / dual	skel bit	wel bit

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse biti.

Noun

bit m (definite singular biten, indefinite plural biter, definite plural bitene)

1. a bit, piece (of something)
2. a bite, mouthful (of food)

Derived terms

• isbit
• smakebit

Etymology 2

From English bit (“binary digit”).

Noun

bit m (definite singular biten, indefinite plural bit or biter, definite plural bitene)

1. a bit (binary digit)

References

• “bit” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• bætta (piece, dialectal)

Etymology 1

From Old Norse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biːt/

Noun

bit m (definite singular biten, indefinite plural bitar, definite plural bitane)

1. a bit, piece (of something)

Derived terms

• hugbit
• isbit
• smakebit

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English bit (“binary digit”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪtː/

Noun

bit m (definite singular biten, indefinite plural bit or bitar, definit plural bitane)

1. a bit (binary digit)

Etymology 3

Inherited from Old Norse bit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biːt/

Noun

bit n (definite singular bitet, indefinite plural bit, definite plural bita)

1. a bite (e.g. insect bite, dog bite)
2. a bite, mouthful (of food)

Etymology 4

From the first person singular present indicative of Old Norse bíta, and from the second person singular imperative Old Norse bíta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biːt/

Verb

bit

1. inflection of bite:
   1. present
   2. imperative

References

• “bit” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biːt/
• Rhymes: -iːt

Verb

bīt

1. imperative singular of bītan

Old Irish

Verb

bit

1. third-person plural future of is

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbit/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -it
• Syllabification: bit
• Homophones: bid, Bid

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁

Proto-Indo-European *-s

▲

Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu.

Proto-Indo-European *dwís

Proto-Italic *dwis

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Italic *-nos

Proto-Italic *dwiznos

Latin bīnus

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-os?

Proto-Indo-European *-o-

Proto-Indo-European *-so-

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂so-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *-yós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-āsijos

Proto-Italic *-āsios

Latin -ārius

Late Latin bīnāriuslbor.

Middle English binarie

English binary

Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-

Proto-Indo-European *deyǵ-

Proto-Italic *digitosder.

Latin digitusbor.

Middle English digit

English digit

English binary digitabbr.

▲

English bitinflu.

English bitbor.

Polish bit

Borrowed from English bit.

Noun

bit m inan (related adjective bitowy)

1. (mathematics, computing) bit (binary digit, generally represented as a 1 or 0)

   bit informacji ― a bit of information

   bit po bicie ― bit by bit

Declension

Declension of bit

	singular	plural
nominative	bit	bity
genitive	bit, bita	bitów
dative	bitowi	bitom
accusative	bit	bity
instrumental	bitem	bitami
locative	bicie	bitach
vocative	bicie	bity

Related terms

adjectives

• bitmapowy

nouns

• bitmapa

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-der.?

Proto-Germanic *bautaną

Proto-West Germanic *bautan

Old English bēatan

Middle English beten

English beatbor.

Polish bit

Borrowed from English beat.

Alternative forms

• beat

Noun

bit m inan

1. beat (instrumental portion of a piece of hip-hop music)
2. (music) beat (rhythm signalled by a conductor or other musician to the members of a group of musicians)

Declension

Declension of bit

	singular	plural
nominative	bit	bity
genitive	bitu	bitów
dative	bitowi	bitom
accusative	bit	bity
instrumental	bitem	bitami
locative	bicie	bitach
vocative	bicie	bity

Etymology 3

Etymology tree

English drill

Middle English bitte

English bit

English drill bitbor.

Polish bit

Borrowed from English drill bit.

Noun

bit m inan

1. drill bit

Declension

Declension of bit

	singular	plural
nominative	bit	bity
genitive	bitu	bitów
dative	bitowi	bitom
accusative	bit	bity
instrumental	bitem	bitami
locative	bicie	bitach
vocative	bicie	bity

Etymology 4

Etymology tree

English big

Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-der.?

Proto-Germanic *bautaną

Proto-West Germanic *bautan

Old English bēatan

Middle English beten

English beat

English big beatbor.

Polish bit

Borrowed from English big beat.

Alternative forms

• beat

Noun

bit m inan

1. big beat (form of pop music having distorted breakbeats at a moderate tempo)

   Synonym: big-beat

   polski bit ― Polish big beat

Declension

Declension of bit

	singular
nominative	bit
genitive	bitu
dative	bitowi
accusative	bit
instrumental	bitem
locative	bicie
vocative	bicie

Further reading

• “bit”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[10] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “bit”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[11] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English bit.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbi.t͡ʃi/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbi.tɨ/

• Rhymes: -it͡ʃi, -itɨ
• Hyphenation: bit

Noun

bit m (plural bits)

1. (mathematics, computing) bit (binary digit)

Synonyms

• Abbreviations: b

Coordinate terms

• Multiples: kilobit, megabit, gigabit, terabit, petabit, exabit, zettabit, yottabit

Related terms

• byte (unit equivalent to 8 bits)

Further reading

• “bit”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “bit”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English bit or French bit.

Noun

bit m (plural biți)

1. (computing) bit

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	bit	bitul	biți	biții
genitive-dative	bit	bitului	biți	biților
vocative	bitule		biților

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

Related to German bis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪt/
• Hyphenation: bit
• Rhymes: -ɪt

Conjunction

bit

1. until

Preposition

bit

1. until, to

Derived terms

• bit tou

References

• Marron C. Fort (2015), “bit”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Scots

Adjective

bit

1. Little.
   • 1889, Jessup Whitehead, The Steward's Handbook and Guide to Party Catering, page 439:

     A bit wee lambie

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

     He laid a hundred guineas with the laird of Slofferfield that he would drive four horses through the Slofferfield loch, and in the prank he had his bit chariot dung to pieces and a good mare killed.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Noun

bit (plural bits)

1. (slang) the area one resides in; neighbourhood, ends

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

From bȉti (“to be”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bîːt/

Noun

bȋt f (Cyrillic spelling би̑т)

1. essence
2. point, meaning

Declension

Declension of bit

	singular	plural
nominative	bȋt	bȋti
genitive	bȋti	bítī
dative	bȋti	bítima
accusative	bȋt	bȋti
vocative	bȋti	bȋti
locative	bíti	bítima
instrumental	bȋću	bítima

Further reading

• “bit”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English bit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bît/

Noun

bȉt m inan (Cyrillic spelling би̏т)

1. (computing) bit

Declension

Declension of bit

	singular	plural
nominative	bȉt	bìtovi
genitive	bita	bitova
dative	bitu	bitovima
accusative	bit	bitove
vocative	bite	bitovi
locative	bitu	bitovima
instrumental	bitom	bitovima

Further reading

• “bit”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Slavomolisano

Etymology

From Serbo-Croatian biti, from Proto-Slavic *byti, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *bū́ˀtei, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-.

Verb

bit pf or impf

1. to be

References

• Walter Breu and Giovanni Piccoli (2000), Dizionario croato molisano di Acquaviva Collecroce: Dizionario plurilingue della lingua slava della minoranza di provenienza dalmata di Acquaviva Collecroce in Provincia di Campobasso (Parte grammaticale)., pp. 409–412

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁

Proto-Indo-European *-s

▲

Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu.

Proto-Indo-European *dwís

Proto-Italic *dwis

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Italic *-nos

Proto-Italic *dwiznos

Latin bīnus

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-os?

Proto-Indo-European *-o-

Proto-Indo-European *-so-

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂so-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *-yós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-āsijos

Proto-Italic *-āsios

Latin -ārius

Late Latin bīnāriuslbor.

Middle English binarie

English binary

Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-

Proto-Indo-European *deyǵ-

Proto-Italic *digitosder.

Latin digitusbor.

Middle English digit

English digit

English binary digitabbr.

▲

English bitinflu.

English bitbor.

Spanish bit

Borrowed from English bit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbit/ [ˈbit̪]
• Rhymes: -it
• Syllabification: bit

Noun

bit m (plural bits)

1. bit (binary digit)

Further reading

• “bit”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026

Swedish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse biti.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biːt/

• Audio (Gotland):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːt

Noun

bit c

1. a piece (forming a part of some whole)

   en pusselbit

   a puzzle piece

   en tårtbit / en bit tårta [note that there is no preposition]

   a piece of cake (not an idiom in Swedish – see lätt som en plätt)

   Jag åt tre bitar McNuggets

   I ate three pieces of McNuggets

   Koppen föll i golvet och gick i tusen bitar

   The cup fell to the floor and broke [went] into a thousand pieces

   torskfilé i bitar

   cod fillet cut into pieces

   1. a bit

      Actionhjälten sprängde skurkarna i bitar

      The action hero blew the bad guys to pieces/bits

2. a bit (certain (not insignificant) distance)

   Den ligger en bit väster om byn

   It lies a bit west of the village

   Huset ligger en bit längre fram

   The house is a bit further ahead

   Det simmar en svan en bit ut på sjön

   There is a swan swimming a bit out on the lake

   Vi följde med henne en bit på vägen

   We accompanied her part of the way [We followed with her a bit on the way (to where she was going)]

   Det är en bra bit till Säffle

   It's quite a drive to Säffle ["It is a good bit to Säffle" – "bra bit" is a common collocation]

   Ta på dig vandringskängorna. Det är en bit att gå.

   Put on your hiking boots. It's a bit of a walk [a bit (implied long) to walk].

   1. way, ways, distance (when more idiomatic)
   2. (figuratively) a bit (of time)

      Vi planerar att skaffa katt en bit längre fram [can also be expressed as "lite längre fram"]

      We're planning to get a cat a bit later on ["further ahead" (longer forth) – still thought of as a distance]

3. a tune, a piece (song)

   Synonyms: låt, sång

   en svängig bit

   a swinging tune

Usage notes

Del (“part”) is often more idiomatic when piece is interchangeable with part.

Declension

Declension of bit

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	bit	bits
	definite	biten	bitens
plural	indefinite	bitar	bitars
	definite	bitarna	bitarnas

Derived terms

• bitsocker (“sugar in the form of sugar cubes, lump sugar”)
• i bitar
• pusselbit (“puzzle piece”)
• sockerbit (“sugar cube”)
• tårtbit

See also

• del (“part”)
• stycke (piece that is a fragment of something in some sense – compare stycka)

Etymology 2

From English bit, from binary digit.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪt/
• Rhymes: -ɪt

Noun

bit c

1. (computing) a bit

   ett 64-bitars operativsystem

   a 64-bit [bits'] operating system

Declension

Declension of bit

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	bit	bits
	definite	biten	bitens
plural	indefinite	bitar	bitars
	definite	bitarna	bitarnas

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /biːt/
• Rhymes: -iːt

Verb

bit

1. imperative of bita

References

• “bit”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “bit”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “bit”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Turkish

bit

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbit/, [ˈbit̪ʰ]

Etymology 1

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish بیت, بت (bit), from Proto-Turkic *bït (“louse”).

Noun

bit (definite accusative biti, plural bitler)

1. (zoology, specifically) louse belonging to genus Pediculus
   • 1940 March 20, “Bütün Haşaratı öldürmeliyiz [We must kill all the bugs]”, in Yeniyol:

     Üzerimizde bulunan çamaşırlarımız arasında saklanan, başımızdaki saçlar arasında yaşıyan ve insandan insana gezen bitleri tanımıyan yoktur.

     Everyone is familiar with lice, which hide in our clothes, live in the hair on our heads, and travel from person to person.

2. (generally) a sucking insect parasitic on plants or animals, including true lice and aphids
   • 1935 June 28, “Gelinböceklerini öldürmeyiniz! [Don't kill ladybugs!]”, in Zaman, page 5:

     Meyva ağaçlarında çiçeklerde, birçok sebzelerde, bostanlarda yaprakları ve genç sürgünleri sim siyah saran ve onları buruşturup kurutan bu hastalık Puseron adındaki küçük bir takım bitlerden ileri gelir. Ona fen dilinde Afis dirler.

     This disease, which turns leaves and young shoots of fruit trees, flowers, many vegetables, and orchards black, causing them to shrivel and dry, is caused by a small insect called 'puceron'. In the scientific language, it is called 'afis'.

3. ellipsis of bitpazarı (“flea market”)

   Hırkam, ee, bitten.

   My cardigan, I bought it from uh... flea market.

Declension

Declension of bit

singular plural nominative bit bitler definite accusative biti bitleri dative bite bitlere locative bitte bitlerde ablative bitten bitlerden genitive bitin bitlerin Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular bitim bitlerim 2nd singular bitin bitlerin 3rd singular biti bitleri 1st plural bitimiz bitlerimiz 2nd plural bitiniz bitleriniz 3rd plural bitleri bitleri definite accusative singular plural 1st singular bitimi bitlerimi 2nd singular bitini bitlerini 3rd singular bitini bitlerini 1st plural bitimizi bitlerimizi 2nd plural bitinizi bitlerinizi 3rd plural bitlerini bitlerini dative singular plural 1st singular bitime bitlerime 2nd singular bitine bitlerine 3rd singular bitine bitlerine 1st plural bitimize bitlerimize 2nd plural bitinize bitlerinize 3rd plural bitlerine bitlerine locative singular plural 1st singular bitimde bitlerimde 2nd singular bitinde bitlerinde 3rd singular bitinde bitlerinde 1st plural bitimizde bitlerimizde 2nd plural bitinizde bitlerinizde 3rd plural bitlerinde bitlerinde ablative singular plural 1st singular bitimden bitlerimden 2nd singular bitinden bitlerinden 3rd singular bitinden bitlerinden 1st plural bitimizden bitlerimizden 2nd plural bitinizden bitlerinizden 3rd plural bitlerinden bitlerinden genitive singular plural 1st singular bitimin bitlerimin 2nd singular bitinin bitlerinin 3rd singular bitinin bitlerinin 1st plural bitimizin bitlerimizin 2nd plural bitinizin bitlerinizin 3rd plural bitlerinin bitlerinin Predicative forms singular plural 1st singular bitim bitlerim 2nd singular bitsin bitlersin 3rd singular bit bittir bitler bitlerdir 1st plural bitiz bitleriz 2nd plural bitsiniz bitlersiniz 3rd plural bitler bitlerdir

Derived terms

• bit otu
• bit sirkesi
• bit yeniği
• bitlenmek
• bitli
• bitpazarı

animals

• buğday biti
• çiçek biti
• fındık biti
• fidan biti
• kasık biti
• su biti
• tahta biti
• tavşan biti
• tavuk biti
• yaprak biti

See also

• pire

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English bit, abbreviation of binary digit.

Noun

bit (definite accusative biti, plural bitler)

1. (computing) bit

Declension

Declension of bit

singular plural nominative bit bitler definite accusative biti bitleri dative bite bitlere locative bitte bitlerde ablative bitten bitlerden genitive bitin bitlerin Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular bitim bitlerim 2nd singular bitin bitlerin 3rd singular biti bitleri 1st plural bitimiz bitlerimiz 2nd plural bitiniz bitleriniz 3rd plural bitleri bitleri definite accusative singular plural 1st singular bitimi bitlerimi 2nd singular bitini bitlerini 3rd singular bitini bitlerini 1st plural bitimizi bitlerimizi 2nd plural bitinizi bitlerinizi 3rd plural bitlerini bitlerini dative singular plural 1st singular bitime bitlerime 2nd singular bitine bitlerine 3rd singular bitine bitlerine 1st plural bitimize bitlerimize 2nd plural bitinize bitlerinize 3rd plural bitlerine bitlerine locative singular plural 1st singular bitimde bitlerimde 2nd singular bitinde bitlerinde 3rd singular bitinde bitlerinde 1st plural bitimizde bitlerimizde 2nd plural bitinizde bitlerinizde 3rd plural bitlerinde bitlerinde ablative singular plural 1st singular bitimden bitlerimden 2nd singular bitinden bitlerinden 3rd singular bitinden bitlerinden 1st plural bitimizden bitlerimizden 2nd plural bitinizden bitlerinizden 3rd plural bitlerinden bitlerinden genitive singular plural 1st singular bitimin bitlerimin 2nd singular bitinin bitlerinin 3rd singular bitinin bitlerinin 1st plural bitimizin bitlerimizin 2nd plural bitinizin bitlerinizin 3rd plural bitlerinin bitlerinin Predicative forms singular plural 1st singular bitim bitlerim 2nd singular bitsin bitlersin 3rd singular bit bittir bitler bitlerdir 1st plural bitiz bitleriz 2nd plural bitsiniz bitlersiniz 3rd plural bitler bitlerdir

Synonyms

• ikil

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

bit

1. second-person singular imperative of bitmek

Further reading

• “bit”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010), “bit”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “bit¹”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 629
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “bit⁵”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 629
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “bit”, in Nişanyan Sözlük

Turkmen

Other scripts
Latin	bit
Cyrillic	бит
Arabic	بیت

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *bït (“louse”). Cognate with Old Turkic [script needed] (bit), Turkish bit (“louse”), etc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbit/, [ˈbɪt̪]

Noun

bit (definite accusative bidi, plural bitler)

1. (zoology) louse

Declension

Declension of bit

	singular	plural
nominative	bit	bitler
accusative	bidi	bitleri
genitive	bidiň	bitleriň
dative	bide	bitlere
locative	bitde	bitlerde
ablative	bitden	bitlerden

Further reading

• “bit” in Enedilim.com

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓit̚˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓit̚˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɓɨt̚˧˧]

• Audio (Saigon):

  (file)

Noun

bit

1. (computing) bit

Zhuang

Pronunciation

• (Standard Zhuang) IPA^(key): /pit˥/
• Tone numbers: bid⁷
• Hyphenation: bit

Etymology 1

From Proto-Tai *pitᴰ (“duck”).

In Northern Tai, cognate with Bouyei bidt, Saek ปิ๊ด.

In Zuojiang Zhuang, cognate with bwt (Chongzuo and Ningming dialects) or bit (Longzhou dialect) or bet (Daxin dialect).

In Central Tai, cognate with Nong Zhuang bet (Guangnan dialect) or baet (Yanshan dialect) or byet.

In Southwestern Tai, cognate with Thai เป็ด (bpèt), Northern Thai ᨸᩮᩢ᩠ᨯ, Isan เป็ด, Lao ເປັດ (pet), Khün ᨸᩮ᩠ᨯ, Lü ᦵᦔᧆ (ṗed), Tai Dam ꪹꪜꪸꪒ, Shan ပဵတ်း (páet), Tai Nüa ᥙᥥᥖᥱ (pět), Ahom 𑜆𑜢𑜄𑜫 (pit).

Compare Old Chinese 鴄 (OC *pʰid), Proto-Be *ɓitᴰ¹.

Noun

bit (classifier duz, Sawndip forms 鴓 or 𱈶 or ⿰品鳥, 1957–1982 spelling bit)

1. duck

Derived terms

• roegbit

Etymology 2

From Chinese 筆 (MC pit).

Noun

bit (classifier gaiq, Sawndip forms 𣭈 or 𰚎, 1957–1982 spelling bit)

1. pen; pencil; writing implement

Classifier

bit (1957–1982 spelling bit)

1. Classifier for sums of money and deals.

Etymology 3

From Chinese 匹 (MC phjit).

Classifier

bit (1957–1982 spelling bit)

1. Classifier for cloth: bolt of

References

• 广西壮族自治区少数民族古籍整理出版规划领导小组 [Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Leading Group for the Compilation and Publication Planning of Minority Ancient Books], editors (2012), “bit”, in 古壮字字典 [Zhuang: Sawndip Sawdenj, Dictionary of Old Zhuang Characters] (overall work in Zhuang and Mandarin), Guangxi: 广西民族出版社 [Guangxi Nationalities Publishing House], →ISBN