c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 56 (MED) A grete semble..of al manere of Men..crieden wiþ heiȝe voice, ‘helþe to oure god, þat sitter vpon þe throne.’

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1963) 3 Kings i. 48 Blessed þe lord god of israel þat ȝaf to dai a sittere [L. sedentem] in my see seeynge myn eȝyn.

a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Apoc. v. 1 Y say in the riȝthond of the sittere [L. sedentis] on the trone, a book.

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 457 Syttare, at mete, conviva.

a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xlix. §5. 179 He..sall call..all perfite men, to be siters with him and deme.

1559 J. Foxe Ridley's Frendly Farewel sig. D.vi It oughte of dutye and of righte to haue the names chaunged, bothe of the Sea, and of the sitter therein.

1608 Dispute Question of Kneeling 73 Not kneelers at any distance from the table,..but sitters at the table.

1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §740 The Turks are great Sitters and seldom walk.

1649 A. Ascham Bounds Publique Obed. 51 Few or many sitters in the House, is not a thing of our examination, if they be above forty.

1701 tr. F. Burgersdijck Introd. Art Logick xvii. 59 When Fire burns Wood, it is conjoyn'd to the Wood by its Existence; when heats the Sitters by it, it is not joyn'd to them by its Existence, but Power.

1746 London Mag. Nov. 573/1 A very small and dangerous Sort of Canoa, liable to be overturn'd by the least Moiety of the Sitters in it.

1806 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. 4 561 Oft from the sitter tales fall about; and from the recumbent, lies.

1837 W. B. Adams Eng. Pleasure Carriages Introd. 18 The seat, for a single sitter, was placed in the centre of the poles.

1897 R. Broughton Dear Faustina xiv In a quarrel the sitter has always an advantage over the stander.

1913 Automobile Topics 11 Jan. 628/2 An adjustable rear seat, intended to provide the tired sitter with means for a change of position in the course of a very long ride.

1975 Winnipeg Free Press 16 July 4/5 At 9 o'clock last night, city parks were loaded with strollers, lovers, sitters, drivers, bikers and ball players.

2014 N.Y. Mag. 22 Sept. 70/1 Loose cushions warp over time under the weight of sitters.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Num. xxii. 25 Whom seeyinge þe asse Iunede hym self to þe wal, & brysede þe foot of þe sittere [L. sedentis].

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Macc. iii. 25 Forsothe sum hors apeeride to hem, hauynge a dreedful sitter [L. sessorem].

c1450 J. Capgrave Solace of Pilgrims (Bodl. 423) (1911) 31 (MED) Now of þe hors þat stant at laterane and of þe sitter þat is up on him schal..be our processe, for summe men sey þat it was mad in worchip of grete constantine, but it is not soo.

a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xxxii. §17. 117 The sittere on that hors sall noght be safe in habundaunce of his vertu.

?1521 A. Barclay Bk. Codrus & Mynalcas sig. Aiij But if the same colte, be broken at the last His sytter ruleth, and hym refrayneth fast.

1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke xix. 147 The Pharisees..thynke theimselues fortunate that they carry the deuill on theyre backes, ye roughest sitter possible and ye moste vnfauourable.

1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 95 Hornets..getting vpon the poore Bees backs, they vse them in stead of a waggon or carryage: for when the silly Bee laboureth to be discharged of his cruell Sytter: the Hornet..spareth not to kill..his..chiefe maintainer.

1861 All Year Round 10 Aug. 474/2 Suetonius describes an elephant who..climbed up an inclined rope to the roof of a theatre, and descended in the same way, bearing a sitter upon his back.

1649 R. Lovelace Lucasta: Epodes, Odes, Sonnets, Songs 62 As if thou..didst draw With those brave eyes your Royall Sitters saw.

1703 J. Elsum Art of Painting after Ital. Manner xvi. 44 The Mouth cannot be well taken unless the Sitter's looks are composed.

1796 J. Farington Diary 28 Apr. (1978) II. 534 Sir Joshua..was so over run with business that in that year He..raised his price..to 35 Gs. which checked the crowd of sitters.

1816 J. Galt Life B. West 69 [The artist's] youth and the peculiar incidents of his history attracted many sitters.

1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians II. xxxvii. 37 I am going farther to get sitters, than any of my fellow-artists ever did.

1883 J. T. Taylor Hardwich's Man. Photogr. Chem. (ed. 9) 297 The roof over the sitter..must also be opaque.

1907 Amateur Photographer 5 Feb. 114/1 His lighting..is concentrated on the sitter, and falls only diffusedly on the background.

1950 V. Barker Amer. Painting xxxvii. 249 For likenesses in which the sitter faced the painter..Sharples charged more.

2014 P. Hoban Lucian Freud vi. 59 Although in the 1950s he occasionally used sitters, Bacon worked straight from photographs..rather than live models.

1653 H. Appleton Remonstr. Fight Legorn-Road 5 Captain Cox in the Elizabeth's Shallop with nine Oars and four Sitters.

1676 London Gaz. No. 1086/3 A single Boat, with but two Sitters, besides the ordinary crew of Rowers.

1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World i. 72 A Boat put off..with four Oars and one Sitter onely.

1776 Kentish Compan. 1777 73/1 Officers of the Customs..Sitter of the extra boat, Thomas Fenwick, 60l. per annum, who has under him six boatmen.

1827 Ann. Reg. 480/2 Mr. Canning was the sitter in the ‘ten-oar’ at the Eton regatta, a post of honour which is always reserved by the boys for some favoured visitor.

1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. i. 1 His boat had no cushion for a sitter, no paint, no inscription.

1897 Chums 27 Jan. 7/3 At the annual Procession of Boats at Eton it used to be customary for the boys to be allowed to have a guest on board, called a ‘Sitter’.

1953 Maryborough (Queensland) Chron. 1 Oct. 7/5 It is the lady sitters' race, the sitter in the winning boat to receive a trophy donated by Mrs. Herbert.

1960 C. Hollis Eton xiii. 213 Distinguished visitors..used sometimes to travel in one or other of the boats as ‘sitters’, and it was customary for the sitter to pay for the honour done to him by standing his rowers champagne.

1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random II. lii. 174 He then explained the difference between the sitters and the betters; characterized the first as old rooks, and the last as bubbles.

1819 Edinb. Evening Courant 12 Apr. 1 Accommodation for several sitters in the New Church, North Leith.

1838 T. Chalmers Wks. XII. 212 A sitter in the Church of St. John.

1879 P. R. Drummond Perthshire in Bygone Days 152 I was a young sitter in the congregation.

1960 Sunday News & Tribune (Jefferson City, Missouri) 14 Aug. Either would join the ‘sitters’ if he thought it would enhance his political fortunes.

1961 Guardian 22 Sept. 12/4 There are still people who think that marchers and sitters can be dismissed because some are oddly dressed.

1971 Star-News (Pasadena, Calif.) 27 Sept. 18/1 The archbishop of Oviedo..accused police of using violence..in forcing the sitters out.

1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 35/1 Five men worked [at ‘translating’ shoes] and slept there, and three were sitters—that is, men who paid 1s. a week to sit there and work, lodging elsewhere.

1860 Once a Week 6 Oct. 405/1 To get up an effective séance, the Medium should procure an assistant to engage the attention of the sitters while she manipulates.

1928 Daily Mail 25 July 6/2 If media were unable to get into a trance the sitting was cancelled and the money returned to the sitter.

1961 W. H. Salter Zoar vi. 73 The sitter brings with him marked plates which he gives the medium.

2005 L. G. Russek in A. DuBois Don't kiss them Good-bye Foreword p. xv The readings she shares in her book demonstrate her innate ability to give specific information to the people she reads, her ‘sitters’, regarding their lost loved ones.

1890 J. A. Riis How Other Half Lives viii. 77 As ‘sitters’ they occasionally find a job in the saloons..that enables them to pick up a charity drink now and then and a bite of an infrequent sandwich. The barkeeper permits them to sit about the stove and by shivering invite the sympathy of transient customers.

1938 S. Hart New Yorkers 183 Bowery barkeeps employed homeless men and women as ‘sitters’ to shiver near the fire on wintry nights and thus evoke the sympathy of cash customers who would treat them to drinks to the great profit of the house.

1948 Sun (Baltimore) 7 Aug. 5/4 Violations, particularly of sitters' rules, would mean suspension or barring women from the licensed premises.

1948 H. L. Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. II. 682 Women who frequent taverns or night-clubs, getting a percentage on the drinks they induce male patrons to buy, are..sitters.

1962 Washington Daily News 11 June 24/1 A ‘sitter’ solicits drinks and occasionally other things in the ‘block’, the night-club district.

1943 Life 8 Nov. 100/2 (caption) Matt Thomson stays home with baby... Once they would have hired capable ‘sitter’. Now only inexperienced girls are available.

1951 H. MacInnes Neither Five nor Three i. i. 11 She and Jon couldn't come to the party because the baby was sick or they couldn't get a sitter.

1975 M. Bradbury Hist. Man vii. 121 I'll have to get a sitter... I shouldn't have any trouble finding someone to sit. One of the students.

1999 N.Y. Post (Nexis) 23 Aug. 64 He'll..have to find another sitter for his dog.

2017 Traverse City (Mich.) Record-Eagle 22 Apr. 3 c/2 I also babysit for my friend's three little boys whenever they need a sitter.

1952 Community Services for Older People (Welfare Council Community Project for Aged, Chicago) iii. 99 A ‘sitter service’ for chronic invalids, who are being cared for by their families, would often relieve the strain on the persons providing the care... Fees include..the salary paid the ‘sitter’.

1990 Sunday Mail (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 1 July I work as a sitter with the elderly. My clients are all stroke victims. Some are bed-ridden, others in wheelchairs.

2015 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 19 Sept. (Ontario ed.) (Focus section) f6 Mr. Crosbie's illness circumscribed Ms. Harrington's life... If she wanted to leave the house, she had to find him a sitter and then slip away while he was distracted.