"small piece," c. 1200; related Old English bite "act of biting," and bita "piece bitten off," which probably are the source of the modern words meaning "boring-piece of a drill" (the "biting" part, 1590s), "mouthpiece of a horse's bridle" (mid-14c.), and "a piece (of food) bitten off, morsel" (c. 1000). All from Proto-Germanic *biton (source also of Old Saxon biti, Old Norse bit, Old Frisian bite, Middle Dutch bete, Old High German bizzo "biting," German Bissen "a bite, morsel"), from PIE root *bheid- "to split."

The meaning "small piece, fragment" of anything is from c. 1600. The sense of "short space of time" is 1650s. Theatrical bit part is from 1909. The colloquial sense of "small coin" in two bits, etc. is originally from the U.S. South and the West Indies, in reference to silver wedges cut or stamped from Spanish dollars (later Mexican reals); transferred to "eighth of a dollar."

computerese word, 1948, coined by U.S. computer pioneer John W. Tukey, an abbreviation of binary digit, probably chosen for its identity with bit (n.1).

chiefly British English spelling of center (q.v.); for ending, see -re.

past tense of bite.

"policy of taking a middle position between extreme views," 1921, in communist and socialist writings, from centre + -ism (also see centrist).

"by pieces, in pieces, piece by piece, bit by bit," c. 1300, pece-mele, from piece (n.1) + Middle English meal "fixed time, period of time, occasion," from Old English mælum "at a time," dative plural of mæl "appointed time, food served" (see meal (n.1)). The second element once was more common, as in Old English styccemælum "bit by bit." Compare gearmælum "year by year," and inchmeal.

1741, from Latin frenum "a bridle, curb, bit," which is of unknown origin.

1973, in computer jargon, from bit (n.2) + map. Literally, a map of bits.

"a little bit," Korean War armed forces slang, from Japanese sukoshi "few, little, some."

"small," 1883, baby-talk from plural of bit (n.1) or a variant of bitty (q.v.).