tit

(tĭt)

noun

1. A titmouse.
2. Any of various small, similar or related birds.

adjective
New England & Upstate New York Regional Note: Tit is an old Germanic word for “small” and is used in various northern European languages to refer to small objects, animals, or people, especially girls—for example, titta is a Norwegian dialect word for “little girl.” The word is most common in American English in combinations that denote various small birds, such as the titmouse or tomtit. A titman in the 19th century could mean a small or stunted person, as Henry David Thoreau indicates when he calls his generation “a race of tit-men.” Tit and titman are still used in New England, mostly by farmers to refer to the runt of a litter of pigs.