fit

Definition

1.healthy, strong, and able to do physical exercise without getting very tired

2. in a good enough physical or mental condition

3. (informal) sexually attractive

View the full definition in the Macmillan Dictionary.

Origin and usage

The adjective fit is first recorded in English in the mid 15th century, earlier than the verb but later than the noun. Its etymology is uncertain. It may have been influenced by another adjective, ‘feat’, now obsolete, which meant apt, adroit or smart. The second meaning above dates from as recently as the 19th century.

Examples

It is safe to assume that most of those taking part in the London Marathon on Sunday were pretty fit. Some of them may even have been pleasantly surprised by the comparative ease of the task of running 26.2 miles around the streets of the capital, while others may have been disconcerted by its difficulty. This is because it emerged last week that many of the best-known fitness trackers are highly inaccurate, either overestimating or underestimating the distance run. The least accurate devices underestimated the distance run by almost eleven miles, meaning that runners had to complete 36 miles to register the marathon distance; others devices overestimated, informing wearers that they had run a marathon when in fact they had covered a mere 19 miles. It seems then that many of these devices are not fit for purpose.

Quotations

“I always say, ‘Eat clean to stay fit; have a burger to stay sane.”
(Gigi Hadid)

“The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.”
(William Shakespeare)