Etymology

halter

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Today it means: A bitless headpiece of rope or straps, placed on the head of animals such as cattle or horses to lead or tie them. Full definition →

Middle English halter ← Old English hælfter ← Proto-West Germanic *halftrijā
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halter · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)kelH-“to cut”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*halftrijā“harness”
  3. Old English · inherited fromhælfter
  4. Middle English · inherited fromhalter
  5. English todayhalter

From Middle English halter, helter, helfter, from Old English hælfter, hælftre (“halter”), from Proto-West Germanic *halftrijā (“harness”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to cut”), equivalent to half- + -ter. Cognate with Scots helter (“halter”), Dutch halfter, halster (“halter”), Low German halfter, helchter, halter (“halter”), German Halfter (“halter, holster”).

halter · noun2

From halt + -er.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*(s)kelH- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.