Etymology

jitter

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Today it means: A nervous action; a tic. Full definition →

Middle English chittern
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jitter · noun, verb1

  1. Middle English · inherited fromchittern“to twitter, chatter”
  2. English todayjitter

Possibly alteration of chitter (“to tremble, shiver”), from Middle English chittern (“to twitter, chatter”). Ultimately onomatopoeic; compare didder and teeter as well as German zittern.

jitter · noun2

From jit + -er.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.