Etymology

squatter

squat·ter
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Today it means: One who squats; one who sits down idly. Full definition →

First used 1788English squat ← Middle English squatten ← Old French esquatir
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
  3. Proto-Italic*eks
  4. Latinex
  5. Latinex-
  6. Old Frenches-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  8. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  9. Proto-Italic*kom
  10. Proto-Italic*kom-
  11. Latinco-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
  14. Proto-Italic*agō
  15. Latinagō
  16. Latincōgō
  17. Latincoāctus
  18. Old Frenchquatir
  19. Old Frenchesquatir
  20. Middle Englishsquatten
  21. Englishsquat
  22. English todaysquatter

From squat + -er.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 1788 One who occupied Crown land.
  • from 1788 A poor vagrant; a hobo or beggar; one suffering from extreme poverty.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.