Middle English (superseding earlier tit²): from Old French tete, probably of Germanic origin.

• tit from Old English:

  Few words in English have such snigger-inducing contrasts in meaning. In the name for small songbirds, tit is probably of Scandinavian origin and related to Icelandic titlingur ‘sparrow’. It first appeared in English in the Middle Ages in the longer equivalent titmouse, though mice had nothing to do with it—the second element was originally mose, which also meant ‘tit’. It changed to mouse in the 16th century, probably because of the bird's small size and quick movements. In Old English a tit was a teat or nipple—it is from the same root as teat (Middle English). In modern English it is a term for a woman's breast, a use that arose in the USA in the early 20th century. Since the 1970s British tits and bums and American tits and ass have suggested crudely sexual images of women. As a name for a foolish person, used since the 19th century, tit may be the same word, or it may have evolved from twit.