chit

¹ American  

[chit] / tʃɪt /

noun

1. a signed note for money owed for food, drink, etc.

2. any receipt, voucher, or similar document, especially of an informal nature.

3. Chiefly British. a note; short memorandum.

---

chit ² American  

[chit] / tʃɪt /

noun

1. a child or young person, especially a pert girl.

---

chit ¹ British  

/ tʃɪt /

noun

1. a voucher for a sum of money owed, esp for food or drink

2. Also called: chitty. 

   1. a note or memorandum

   2. a requisition or receipt

---

chit ² British  

/ tʃɪt /

noun

1. facetious a pert, impudent, or self-confident girl or child

   a young chit of a thing

---

Etymology

Origin of chit¹

1775–85; short for chitty < Hindi chiṭṭī

Origin of chit²

1350–1400; for sense of “the young of an animal”; 1615–25 for current sense; Middle English; perhaps akin to kitten or kid ¹

Explanation

A chit is a tab or an IOU, a record of money owed. Your neighborhood deli might give you a chit the end of each week, letting you know how much you owe for your daily bagels. A waiter at a restaurant often keeps a chit, adding up each item your group orders throughout the evening. There is also the kind of chit you keep when you're on an expense account, with your employer paying for hotels and meals — at the end of a business trip, you might turn in your chit so your boss knows exactly what the company's money was spent on. The root of chit is the Hindi word chitthi, "letter or note."

Example Sentences

Oil prices are perhaps their only real negotiating chit.

From Barron's • May 20, 2026

In July, Tidwell posted a video titled “Zoloft chit chat” and said her side effects had been mild—tiredness and nausea for a few days when she started and when she upped her dose.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 19, 2025

His conversation with Strunk didn’t last long, more of an introduction followed by some quick chit chat.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 11, 2023

“Debby is a super cool person, so thank you crazy people for putting me and Debby in contact because now Debby’s the homie, and Debby and I chit chat,” Stokes said.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 25, 2022

I fumbled my meal chit into one of the dull tin trays and collected a portion of steamed pudding, a sausage, and some of the ever-present beans.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss