Etymology

chatter

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Today it means: Talk, especially meaningless or unimportant talk. Full definition →

Middle English chateren
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chatter · noun, verb1

  1. Middle Englishcheteren, chiteren (Imitative)
  2. Middle Englishchateren
  3. English todaychatter

From Middle English chateren, from earlier cheteren, chiteren (“to twitter, chatter, jabber”), of imitative origin. Compare Saterland Frisian tjoaterje (“to chatter”), West Frisian tsjotterje (“to chatter”), Dutch schateren, schetteren (“chatter”), Dutch koeteren (“jabber”), Middle Low German kidderen (“to chatter”), German Low German queteln (“to chatter”), dialectal German kaudern (“to gobble (like a turkey)”), Danish kvidre (“to twitter, chirp”).

chatter · noun2

  1. Middle Englishcheteren, chiteren (Imitative)
  2. Middle Englishchateren
  3. Englishchatterclip.
  4. Englishchat
  5. English todaychatter

From chat + -er.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.