late 13c., "round wooden tub," perhaps from Middle Dutch kitte "jug, tankard, wooden container," of unknown origin. Meaning "collection of personal effects," especially for traveling (originally in reference to a soldier), is from 1785; that of "outfit of tools for a workman" is from 1851. Of drum sets, by 1929. Meaning "article to be assembled by the buyer" is from 1930s.
"small fiddle used by dancing teachers," 1510s, probably a shortening of Old English cythere, from Latin cithara, from Greek kithara (see guitar).
jargon
(Usenet, possibly from DEC) Slang for a full software distribution, as opposed to a patch or upgrade. A source software distribution that has been packaged in such a way that it can (theoretically) be unpacked and installed according to a series of steps using only standard Unix tools, and entirely documented by some reasonable chain of references from the top-level README file. The more general term distribution may imply that special tools or more stringent conditions on the host environment are required.
[Jargon File]
(1994-11-18)
small fiddle with a muted tone, carried by dancing masters in their pockets in the 16th-18th century. A last descendant of the medieval rebec, the kit evolved as a narrow, boat-shaped instrument with usually three or four strings. Later, narrow, violin-shaped kits were also built. Dancing masters used it to play the dance melody and rhythm while teaching the steps.