ITabbr. information technologyit (?t)pron.1. Used to refer to that one previously mentioned. Used of a nonhuman entity; an animate being whose sex is unspecified, unknown, or irrelevant; a group of objects or individuals; an action; or an abstraction: polished the table until it shone; couldn’t find out who it was; opened the meeting by calling it to order.2. Used as the subject of an impersonal verb: It is snowing.3. a. Used as an anticipatory subject or object: Is it certain that they will win? We found it hard to believe that the car was that old.b. Used as an anticipatory subject to emphasize a term that is not itself a subject: It was on Friday that all the snow fell.4. Used to refer to a general condition or state of affairs: She couldn’t stand it.5. Used to refer to a crucial situation or culmination: This is it?the rivals are finally face to face. That’s it! I won’t tolerate any more foolishness.6. Informal Used to refer to something that is the best, the most desirable, or without equal: He thinks he’s it. That steak was really it!7. Games Used to designate a player, as in tag, who attempts to find or catch the other players.n. An animal that has been neutered: The cat is an it.Idioms: out of it Informal 1. Unaware of or unknowledgeable about the latest trends or developments.2. In a daze or stupor: I didn’t get enough sleep last night, and today I’m really out of it. with it Informal 1. Aware of or knowledgeable about the latest trends or developments.2. Mentally responsive and perceptive: I’m just not with it today.[Middle English, from Old English hit; see ko- in Indo-European roots.]Our Living Language “I told Anse it likely won’t be no need.” This quotation from William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying demonstrates a use of it that occurs in some vernacular varieties of American speech. It is used instead of Standard English there when there functions as a so-called existential?that is, when there indicates the mere existence of something rather than a physical location, as in It was nothing I could do. Existential it is hardly a recent innovation?it appears in Middle English; in Elizabethan English, as in Marlowe’s Edward II: “Cousin, it is no dealing with him now”; and in modern American literature as well. Although most British and American varieties no longer have this historical feature, it still occurs in some Southern-based dialects and in African American Vernacular English. · In some American vernacular dialects, particularly in the South (including the Appalachian and Ozark Mountains), speakers may pronounce it as hit in stressed positions, especially at the beginning of a sentence, as in Hit’s cold out here! This pronunciation is called a relic dialect feature because it represents the retention of an older English form. In fact, hit is the original form of the third person singular neuter pronoun and thus can be traced to the beginnings of the Old English period (c. 449-1100). Early in the history of English, speakers began to drop the h from hit, particularly in unaccented positions, as in I saw it yesterday. Gradually, h also came to be lost in accented positions, although hit persisted in socially prestigious speech well into the Elizabethan period. Some relatively isolated dialects in Great Britain and the United States have retained h, since linguistic innovations such as the dropping of h are often slow to reach isolated areas. But even in such places, h tends to be retained only in accented words. Thus, we might hear Hit’s the one I want side by side with I took it back to the store. Nowadays, hit is fading even in the most isolated dialect communities and occurs primarily among older speakers. · This loss of h reflects a longstanding tendency among speakers of English to omit h’s in unaccented words, particularly pronouns, such as ‘er and ‘im for her and him, as in I told ‘er to meet me outside. This kind of h-loss is widespread in casual speech today, even though it is not reflected in spelling.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.it (?t) pron (subjective or objective) 1. refers to a nonhuman, animal, plant, or inanimate thing, or sometimes to a small baby: it looks dangerous; give it a bone. 2. refers to an unspecified or implied antecedent or to a previous or understood clause, phrase, etc: it is impossible; I knew it. 3. used to represent human life or experience either in totality or in respect of the present situation: how’s it going?; I’ve had it; to brazen it out. 4. used as a formal subject (or object), referring to a following clause, phrase, or word: it helps to know the truth; I consider it dangerous to go on. 5. used in the nominative as the formal grammatical subject of impersonal verbs. When it functions absolutely in such sentences, not referring to any previous or following clause or phrase, the context is nearly always a description of the environment or of some physical sensation: it is raining; it hurts. 6. (used as complement with be) informal the crucial or ultimate point: the steering failed and I thought that was it. n7. (Games, other than specified) (in children’s games) the player whose turn it is to try to touch another. Compare he15b8. informal a. sexual intercourseb. sex appeal9. informal a desirable quality or ability: he’s really got it. [Old English hit]it the internet domain name for (Computer Science) Italy IT abbreviation for (Communications & Information) information technology Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014it (?t) pron., nom. it, pron. 1. (used to represent an inanimate thing understood, previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context): It was broken. You can’t tell a book by its cover. 2. (used to represent a person or animal understood, previously mentioned, or about to be mentioned whose gender is unknown or disregarded): Who was it? It was John. 3. (used to represent a group understood or previously mentioned): The judge told the jury it could recess. 4. (used to represent a concept or abstract idea understood or previously stated): It all started with Adam and Eve. 5. (used to represent an action or activity understood, previously mentioned, or about to be mentioned): Since you don’t like it, you don’t have to go skiing. 6. (used as the impersonal subject of the verb to be, esp. to refer to time, distance, or the weather): It is six o’clock. It was foggy. 7. (used in statements expressing an action, condition, fact, circumstance, or situation without reference to an agent): If it weren’t for Edna, I wouldn’t go. 8. (used in referring to something as the origin or cause of pain, pleasure, etc.): Where does it hurt? 9. (used in referring to a source not specifically named or described): It is said that love is blind. 10. (used in referring to the general state of affairs or life in general): How’s it going with you? 11. (used as an anticipatory subject or object to make a sentence more eloquent or suspenseful or to shift emphasis): It is necessary that you do your duty. It was a gun that he was carrying. 12. (used in referring to a critical event that has finally happened or is about to happen): The lights went out. We thought, this is it! 13. Informal. (used instead of the pronoun its before a gerund or present participle): It having rained for only one hour didn’t help the crops. n. 14. (in children’s games) the player who is to perform some task, as, in tag, the one who must catch the others. 15. Slang. a. a desirable personal attribute. b. sexual intercourse. [before 900; Middle English, variant of hit, Old English, neuter of he1] usage: See me. IT information technology. It. 1. Italian. 2. Italy. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.it1. referring to thingsYou use it to refer to an object, animal, or other thing that has just been mentioned.Be Careful!When the subject of a sentence is followed by a relative clause, don’t use ‘it’ in front of the main verb. Don’t say, for example, ‘The town where I work, it is near London’. Say ‘The town where I work is near London’.You can also use it to refer to a situation, fact, or experience.Be Careful!You often express an opinion using an -ing form or to-infinitive after a verb such as like. When you do this, don’t use ‘it’ in front of the -ing form or infinitive.Be Careful!For example, don’t say ‘I like it, walking in the park’. Say ‘I like walking in the park’. Don’t say ‘I prefer it, to make my own bread’. Say ‘I prefer to make my own bread’.It is often the subject of a linking verb such as be.You can use it as the subject of be to say what the time, day, or date is.You can also use it as the subject of a linking verb to describe the weather or the light.You can use it with a linking verb and an adjective to describe an experience. After the adjective, you use an -ing form or a to-infinitive. For example, instead of saying ‘Walking by the lake was nice’, people usually say ‘It was nice walking by the lake’.You can use it with a linking verb and an adjective to describe the experience of being in a particular place. After the adjective, you use a phrase referring to the place.You can use it with an adjective or noun phrase to comment on a whole situation. After the adjective or noun phrase, you use a that-clause.After an adjective, you can sometimes use a wh-clause instead of a that-clause.Be Careful!Don’t use ‘it’ with a linking verb and a noun phrase to say that something exists or is present. Don’t say, for example, ‘It’s a lot of traffic on this road tonight’. Say ‘There’s a lot of traffic on this road tonight’.