Etymology

titter

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Today it means: To laugh or giggle in a somewhat subdued or restrained way, as from nervousness or poorly-suppressed amusement. Full definition →

Middle English *titeren
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titter · verb, noun1

  1. Middle English · derived fromtitten“to waver”
  2. Middle English · inherited from*titeren
  3. English todaytitter

First attested in the 1610s. Probably from Middle English *titeren, *titren (attested in Middle English titering (“hesitation, vacillation”)), probably a frequentative of Middle English titten (“to waver”), ultimately of imitative origin. Related to Old Norse titra (“to shake, shiver, quiver”) (if not borrowed from it), dialectal Swedish tittra (“to snicker”). Compare also Proto-Germanic *titrōną (“to tremble”).

titter · noun2

From tit + -er.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.