upˈsitting, vbl. n.
[up- 7.]
1. The occasion of a woman's first sitting up to receive company after a confinement. Obs. exc. dial. (Cf. upsetting vbl. n. 2.)
| 1572 J. Jones Bathes of Buckstone 9 b, Some in forme of Cakes, as at weddings; some Rondes of Hogs, as at vp⁓sittings. 1603 Dekker Bachelor's Banquet C 3, It is your vpsitting, and a fortnight at the least since you were brought to bed. 1641 Brome Joviall Crew ii. (1652) F 2 b, We will have such..A Christning; such up-sitting and Ghossipping! 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 12/2 This is a kind of dress which Women in Child-bed usually wear, when they are for Christnings, and up-sittings. 1746 Exmoor Scolding (E.D.S.) 24 'Twas thee roil'st upon me to Daraty Vogwill's Upzitting. 1828– in dialect glossaries (Yks., Som., Dev.). |
† 2. The fact of sitting up again after an illness.
| 1646 Fuller Wounded Consc. xix. 140, I must..rejoyce at thy upsitting, whom God hath raised from the bed of despaire. 1742 Richardson Pamela IV. 303, I am once more..enabled to dedicate to you the first Fruits of my Penman⁓ship, on my Upsitting. |
† 3. Sc. Inactivity, indifference. Obs.
| 1680 Stewart in Howie Cloud of Witnesses (1778) 74 The Lord hath rubbed shame on all our faces, because of many backslidings and upsitting in duty. 1709 Wodrow Corr. (1842) I. 55 There is a remarkable upsitting among us in mutual freedom one with another. |
4. S. Afr. The practice of sitting up during the night as a method of courtship. (After Du. opzitten.) Also attrib.
| 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vi. 165 When two upsittings have been going on, at opposite corners of a large room. Ibid., The upsitting business I consider about the best of their old customs. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 20 Jan. 1/3 The nocturnal courtship, or ‘upsitting’. |