Origin of its
Early Modern English analogical formation from it + 's; written it's until early 19th circa : the Middle English and Old English form was hisAn example of its is the phrase its cover which means the cover that belongs to the book.
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its
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its
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adjective
The possessive form of itOrigin of its
Alteration of it's it -'sUsage Note: Its is the possessive form of the pronoun it and is correctly written without an apostrophe: The cat licked its paws. The contraction it's (for it is or it has ) should always have an apostrophe: It's the funniest show I've seen in years. It's been three years since our last trip to Los Angeles.
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- (rare) The one (ones) belonging to it.
- Its is now distinguished from it's (a contraction of "it is" or "it has"). For example, It's going to rain is equivalent to It is going to rain, and It's got three wheels is equivalent to It has three wheels.
- Like it, its is usually avoided when referring to humans. Its is commonly used with animals when the gender is unknown or unimportant. With humans, person is used for a person whose gender is unknown or to describe something that could be possessed by either gender, body or corpse are often used to describe a dead person, and figure, shape, and silhouette are often used to describe what someone sees as a person but can't see clearly enough to determine an identity or gender, e.g. The figure moved behind a bush, but Josh could see its shadow from the moonlight.
- Rank among most common English words: #72 (Gutenburg)
- plural form of it
From it + 's.
- (computing) Initialism of issue tracking system.
- Common misspelling of its.
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its - Computer Definition
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(Intelligent Transportation Systems) An umbrella term for advanced automation in mobile vehicles. It includes internal and car-to-car communications systems as well as collision avoidance and crash detection systems (see automotive systems). ITS also covers systems that monitor traffic in order to control lights, electronic speed limit signs, reversible lanes and other highway safety components. One of the ultimate and futuristic manifestations of ITS is automatic vehicular guidance, which steers a car by sensors in the road. See IDB, telematics and V2V.ITS AmericaThe Intelligent Transportation Society of America was founded in 1991 to promote ITS systems that enhance safety and reduce congestion. For more information, visit www.itsa.org.
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