Pit
/pɪt/noun
A hole or cavity in the ground, or the hard seed of certain fruits.
Did you know?In Old English, a pit was simply a dug-out hollow, but the same ancient root also gave English words like pond, puddle, and pudge—small reminders that ‘depth’ can shape everything.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰed-
“to dig, pierce, or split”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*putō
“pit, hollow, hole”
Old English
English
pytt
“pit, hole, hollow”
Middle English
English
pit
“a hole in the ground; a grave; the hollow of a fruit stone”
Modern English
English
pit
“a hole or cavity; the stone of a fruit; a sunken area”