flit
English
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
flit¹
- /flɪt/
Rhymes with -ɪt
Where it comes from
From Middle English flitten, flytten, from Old Norse flytja (“to move”), from Proto-Germanic *flutjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd- (“to flow; run”).
Cognate Icelandic flytja, Swedish flytta, Danish flytte, Norwegian flytte, Faroese flyta. Compare also Saterland Frisian flitskje (“to rush; run quickly”).
noun flits
- A fluttering or darting movement.
- A sudden departure from a property. I did a flit, as the landlord was due to arrive to collect the rent.
- A particular, unexpected, short lived change of state. My computer just had a flit.
- A homosexual. The other end of the bar was full of flits. They weren't too flitty-looking—I mean they didn't have their hair too long or anything—but you could tell they were flits anyway.
verb flits · flitting · flitted
- To move about rapidly and nimbly. the low buzz of insects flitting over the flowers
- To move quickly from one location to another. By their means it became a received opinion, that the souls of men departing this life, do flit out of one body into some other.
- To unpredictably change state for short periods of time. My blender flits because the power cord is damaged.
- To move house (sometimes a sudden move to avoid debts). After this manner did the late Warden of Barchester Hospital accomplish his flitting, and change his residence.
- To move a tethered animal to a new grazing location.
- To be unstable; to be easily or often moved. the free soul to flitting air resign'd
adjective more flit · most flit
- Fast, nimble. And in his hand two darts exceeding flit, / And deadly sharpe he held [...].
flit²
Where it comes from
Short for fl(ow control un)it or fl(ow control dig)it.
noun flits
- A flow control unit or flow control digit. header flit
Translations
Every language
verb to move about rapidly and nimbly
| Français | voltiger, voleter, papillonner |
|---|---|
| Русский | порха́ть porxátʹ |
verb to move quickly from one location to another
| Español | revolotear |
|---|---|
| Français | virevolter |
| Deutsch | gaukeln |
| Italiano | svolazzare |
| Русский | носи́ться nosítʹsja |
verb to unpredictably change state for short periods
| Русский | барахли́ть baraxlítʹ |
|---|
Talk about this word "flit." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/flit. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. flit. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/flit "flit." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/flit.Cite this
@misc{flit_2026,
title = {flit},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/flit},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
