Etymology

stotter

S1T1O1T1T1E1R1

Today it means: To stagger; totter; stumble Full definition →

Middle English stoteren
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Middle English · derived fromstoten“to stumble”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromstoteren
  3. English todaystotter

From Middle English stoteren (compare also participle Middle English staterand (“staggering; tottering; stumbling”)), a frequentative form of Middle English stoten (“to stumble”), related to Dutch stoten (“to push; bump; butt; stumble against”), German stoßen (“to push; butt; knock; bump”), Icelandic stauta (“to struggle through; pound; grind”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.