# sitting

Pronunciation: say "SIT-ing" /ˈsɪtɪŋ/

## Verb

1. Present participle of sit. — present participle and gerund of sit
   - Simple: Present participle of sit. Use this form for an action that is happening over a stretch of time.
   - _He was sitting at the back of the room throughout the lecture._
   - _Sitting through the long meeting tested everyone's patience._

## Noun

2. A continuous period spent seated for a particular purpose, such as a meal, a portrait, or a single task.
   - Simple: A length of time you spend seated to do one thing, like eating a meal or posing for a portrait.
   - _He ate the entire cake in a single sitting._
   - _The model endured several long sittings for the artist._
3. An unbroken period of continuous effort at something, the whole stretch during which one keeps at the activity.
   - Simple: An unbroken stretch of time spent doing one thing without stopping.
   - _The author drafted the chapter in one focused sitting._
   - _Three hours at the keyboard made for an exhausting sitting._
5. A formal meeting of a legislative body, in the sense of a single gathering rather than a span of time.
   - Simple: A single meeting of a parliament or council held to do its business.
   - _Parliament held an emergency sitting to debate the crisis._
   - _The bill was introduced during the chamber's evening sitting._
7. The portion of the year during which courts are open and judicial business is conducted.
   - Simple: The time of year when courts are open and hearing cases.
   - _The appeal will be heard in the next sitting of the High Court._
   - _Several major rulings came down during the spring sitting._
8. A session with a spirit medium or fortune-teller, such as a seance.
   - Simple: A meeting with a fortune-teller or medium to reach spirits or learn the future.
   - _The grieving widow attended a sitting hoping to hear from her late husband._
   - _Skeptics packed the sittings to expose the medium's tricks._
9. A reserved seat assigned to a particular holder, especially a rented pew in a church.
   - Simple: A seat kept for one particular person, especially in a church.
   - _Each pew-renting family had its own sitting toward the front of the chapel._
   - _He inherited his father's sitting in the old parish church._
10. The process by which a bird incubates its eggs, keeping them warm until they hatch.
   - Simple: The act of a bird resting on its eggs to keep them warm until they hatch.
   - _The goose interrupted her sitting only briefly to feed._
   - _A successful sitting depends on steady warmth and humidity in the nest._
11. The full set of eggs laid and incubated by a brooding bird at one time.
   - Simple: A group of eggs that a bird lays and keeps warm at one time.
   - _She slipped a few duck eggs into the hen's sitting._
   - _The farmer candled each sitting to check the developing chicks._

## Adjective

4. Currently occupying an official or legal post; incumbent.
   - Simple: Currently holding an official job or position, like a judge or a member of government.
   - _The sitting judge recused herself from the controversial case._
   - _A sitting senator rarely loses to an untested newcomer._
6. Performed from a seated position rather than standing or lying down.
   - Simple: Done while a person stays seated, not standing or lying down.
   - _The competitor preferred a sitting stance for greater stability._
   - _Riflery instructors teach the sitting position for steadier aim._

## Origin

**Meanings 2–3, 5, 7–11** — From Middle English sittyng or sittynge, equivalent to sit plus -ing. It is related to Dutch zitting, German Sitzung, and Swedish sittning, all meaning a sitting or session.
**Meanings 1, 4, 6** — From Middle English sittinge, a variant of sittende, from Old English sittende ("sitting"), from Proto-Germanic *sitjandz, the present participle of *sitjaną ("to sit"); equivalent to sit plus -ing. It is related to Dutch zittend, German sitzend, and Swedish sittande.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/sitting (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).