Meanings
plural chitterlings
- obsoleteThe frill to the breast of a shirt.
And some wear lattice caps with three horns, three corners I should say, like the forked caps of popish priests, with their periwinkles, chitterlings, and the like apish toys of infinite variety
a. 1621, John Harland, Shuttleworth Family, The House and Farm Accounts of the Shuttleworths of Gawthorpe Hall, in the County of Lancaster, at Smithils and Gawthorpe: From September 1582 to October 1621 - A single piece of chitterlings (intestine used as food).
Origin
- Middle Englishchiterling
- Englishchitterling
From Middle English chiterling, of uncertain origin. Compare Middle Low German kǖtel (“entrails, tripe”), German Kuttel (“tripe”), West Flemish kiet, kijte (“milt, fish roe”), Scots kyte (“belly, stomach”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
chitterling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chitterling
“chitterling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chitterling. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chitterling,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chitterling.
Source: chitterling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.