ettin

Meanings

nounettin (plural ettins)

plural ettins · alternative etin · alternative etten · alternative eaton · alternative yetun · alternative yotun · alternative yeten · alternative yetin · alternative Etene · alternative Yttin · alternative Ytene

archaicdialectalfantasyA giant.
1 more example
1890, Joseph Jacobs, "The Red Ettin" in English Folk and Fairy Tales, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 3rd edition, no date, p. 138, https://archive.org/details/englishfairytale00jacouoft He asked the wife if he might stay for the night, as he was tired with a long journey; and the wife said he might, but it was not a good place for him to be in, as it belonged to the Red Ettin, who was a very terrible beast, with three heads, that spared no living man it could get hold of.
roleplaying gamesA giant with two heads.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

giant

Origin

Proto-Indo-European*h₁ed-“to eat”
Proto-Germanic*etunaz“giant, glutton”
Proto-West Germanic*etun
Old Englisheoten“giant, monster, enemy”
Middle Englisheten
Englishettin

From Middle English eten, etend, from Old English eoten (“giant, monster, enemy”), from Proto-West Germanic *etun, from Proto-Germanic *etunaz (“giant, glutton”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”). Cognate with Icelandic jötunn (“giant”), Swedish jätte (“giant”), Danish jætte (“giant”). Doublet of jotun.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →