Advertisement

flit (v.)

c. 1200, flitten, flytten, flutten "convey, move (a thing) from one place to another, take, carry away," also intransitive, "go away, move, migrate," from Old Norse flytja "to remove, bring," from Proto-Germanic *flutjan- "to float," from extended form of PIE root *pleu- "to flow." Intransitive sense "move lightly and swiftly" is from early 15c.; from c. 1500 as "remove from one habitation to another" (originally Northern English and Scottish)

Theire desire ... is to goe to theire newe masters eyther on a Tewsday, or on a Thursday; for ... they say Munday flitte, Neaver sitte. [Henry Best, farming & account book, 1641]

Related: Flitted; flitting. As a noun, "a flitting, a removal," from 1835.

Others are reading

Advertisement
Definitions of flit from WordNet
1
flit (n.)
a sudden quick movement;
Synonyms: dart
flit (n.)
a secret move (to avoid paying debts);
they did a moonlight flit
2
flit (v.)
move along rapidly and lightly; skim or dart;
The hummingbird flitted among the branches
Synonyms: flutter / fleet / dart
From wordnet.princeton.edu