squat

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /skwɑt/ UK /skwɒt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to crouch low with bent knees, or short and thick in form

She had to squat down to reach the bottom shelf.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to crouch low with bent... crouchhunkerstoopdumpystockystubby thickset

Opposites

tall lanky slender towering

Word family

Derived forms squattersquatting

Etymology

From Old French esquatir ('to crush, flatten'), from es- (Latin ex-) + quatir ('to press down'), from Vulgar Latin *coactire, from Latin coactus ('compressed'), from cogere ('to drive together').

esquatir Old French coactus Latin cogere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# squat

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /skwɑt/
**IPA (UK):** /skwɒt/

## Meanings
1. to crouch low with bent knees, or short and thick in form

## Examples
- She had to squat down to reach the bottom shelf.

## Synonyms
- crouch
- hunker
- stoop
- dumpy
- stocky
- stubby
- thickset

## Antonyms
- tall
- lanky
- slender
- towering

## Derived Forms
- squatter
- squatting

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: esquatir
- Root: coactus
- Root: cogere

## Etymology
From Old French esquatir ('to crush, flatten'), from es- (Latin ex-) + quatir ('to press down'), from Vulgar Latin *coactire, from Latin coactus ('compressed'), from cogere ('to drive together').

## AI Etymology
Squat is from Old French esquatir ('to crush, flatten'), from es- (Latin ex-) + quatir ('to press down'), from Vulgar Latin *coactire, from Latin coactus ('compressed'), from cogere ('to drive together'). Important recorded forms include esquatir (Old French), coactus (Latin), and cogere (Latin). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers to crouch low with bent knees, or short and thick in form. The wider family includes derived forms such as squatter and squatting.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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