Meanings
stammer1
present singular third person stammers · participle present stammering · participle past stammered · past stammered
- transitiveTo utter with a stammer, or with timid hesitancy.
He blushed, and stammered a few words of apology.
1 more example
The high school had a send-off in my honour. It was an uncommon thing for a young man of Rajkot to go to England. I had written out a few words of thanks. But I could scarcely stammer them out. I remember how my head reeled and how my whole frame shook as I stood up to read them.
1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xi
plural stammers
- The involuntary repetition of a sound in speech.
She said goodbye in a stammer.
- A speech defect whereby someone speaks with a stammer
Stammer2
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
nouna speech disorder involving hesitations and involuntary repetitions of certain sounds
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
stammer · verb, noun
- Proto-Germanic*stamrōną“to stammer”
- Proto-West Germanic*stamrōn
- Old Englishstamerian
- Middle Englishstameren
- Englishstammer
From Middle English stameren, from Old English stamerian, from Proto-West Germanic *stamrōn, from Proto-Germanic *stamrōną (“to stammer”). Compare German stammeln, Dutch stameren, Old Norse stammr. Doublet of stumble.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Stammer · proper noun
- GermanStammer
- EnglishStammer
Borrowed from German Stammer.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βατταλογέω
- βατταλογέω (battalogéō)to stutter
Arabic تَلَجْلَجَ, تَلَعْثَمَ
- تَلَجْلَجَ (talajlaja)to stutter
- تَلَعْثَمَ (talaʕṯama)to stutter
Bulgarian заеквам, пелтеча
- заеквам (zaekvam)to stutter
- пелтеча (pelteča)to stutter
- заекване (zaekvane)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
- пелтечене (peltečene)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
Catalan quequejar, tartamudejar
- quequejarto stutter
- tartamudejarto stutter
- titubarto stutter
- titubejarto stutter
Chinese Mandarin 口吃, 結巴 /结巴
- 口吃 (kǒuchī)to stutter
- 結巴 /结巴 (jiēbā)to stutter
- 磕巴 (kēbā)to stutter
- 漏口 (lòukǒu)to stutter
- 吶吶 /呐呐 (nànà)to stutter
- 吞吐 (tūntǔ)to stutter
- 口吃 (kǒuchī)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
Czech koktat, zajíkat se
- koktatto stutter
- zajíkat seto stutter
Danish stamme
- stammeto stutter
Dutch stotteren, hakkelen
- stotterento stutter
- hakkelento stutter
Esperanto balbuti
- balbutito stutter
Estonian kogelema
- kogelemato stutter
Finnish änkyttää, takellella
- änkyttääto stutter
- takellellato stutter
- änkytysinvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
- takelteluinvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
French balbutier, bégayer
- balbutierto stutter
- bégayerto stutter
- bégaiementinvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
German stammeln, stottern
- stammelnto stutter
- stotternto stutter
- Stotterninvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
Greek τραυλίζω, τραύλισμα
- τραυλίζω (travlízo)to stutter
- τραύλισμα (trávlisma)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
- τραυλισμός (travlismós)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
Hebrew גמגם, גמגום
- גמגם (gimgém)to stutter
- גמגום (gimgum)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
Hindi हकलाना, लड़खड़ाना
- हकलाना (haklānā)to stutter
- लड़खड़ाना (laṛakhṛānā)to stutter
- हँकलाना (hãklānā)to stutter
- हिकलाना (hiklānā)to stutter
- हकलाहट (haklāhaṭ)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
- हकलापन (haklāpan)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
Hungarian dadog, hebeg
- dadogto stutter
- hebegto stutter
Icelandic stama
- stamato stutter
Irish beith ag stadaireacht, maolteanga
- beith ag stadaireachtto stutter
- maolteangainvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
- stadinvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
- snaginvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
Italian balbettare, tartagliare
- balbettareto stutter
- tartagliareto stutter
- balbettioinvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
Japanese 吃る, 吃り
- 吃る (domoru)to stutter
- 吃り (domori)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
Korean 더듬다, 말을 더듬다
- 더듬다 (deodeumda)to stutter
- 말을 더듬다 (mareul deodeumda)to stutter
- 더듬기 (deodeumgi)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
Latin balbutiō, friguttiō
- balbutiōto stutter
- friguttiōto stutter
Latvian stostīties
- stostītiesto stutter
Lithuanian mikčioti
- mikčiotito stutter
Māori mamamama, kikikiki
- mamamamato stutter
- kikikikito stutter
- kīkikito stutter
Norwegian Bokmål stamme
- stammeto stutter
Polish jąkać się, jąkanie
- jąkać sięto stutter
- jąkanieinvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
Portuguese gaguejar, gaguejo
- gaguejarto stutter
- gaguejoinvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
Punjabi ਥਥਲਾਉਣਾ
- ਥਥਲਾਉਣਾ (thathlāuṇā)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
Romanian bâlbâi, Balbism
- bâlbâito stutter
- Balbisminvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
Russian заика́ться, запина́ться
- заика́ться (zaikátʹsja)to stutter
- запина́ться (zapinátʹsja)to stutter
- заика́ние (zaikánije)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
Slovak koktať, zajakať sa
- koktaťto stutter
- zajakať sato stutter
- koktanieinvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
Spanish balbucear, balbucir
- balbucearto stutter
- balbucirto stutter
- cancanearto stutter
- gaguearto stutter
- tartajearto stutter
- tartalearto stutter
- tartamudeoinvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
Swahili gugumiza, kigugumizi
- gugumizato stutter
- kigugumiziinvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
Swedish stamma, stamning
- stammato stutter
- stamninginvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
Thai ติดอ่าง, อ่าง
- ติดอ่าง (dtìt-àang)to stutter
- อ่าง (àang)to stutter
Turkish kekelemek, pepelemek
- kekelemekto stutter
- pepelemekto stutter
- kekelemeinvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
Ukrainian заїка́тися, затина́тися
- заїка́тися (zajikátysja)to stutter
- затина́тися (zatynátysja)to stutter
- заїкання (zajikannja)involuntary repetition of sounds in speech
Vietnamese nói lắp, vấp lưỡi
- nói lắpto stutter
- vấp lưỡito stutter
- cà lămto stutter
Welsh cecian, dydio
- cecianto stutter
- dydioto stutter
- atal dweudinvoluntary repetition of sounds in speech
Yiddish שטאַמלען
- שטאַמלען (shtamlen)to stutter
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with stammer
Anagrams
Cite this entry
stammer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stammer
“stammer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stammer. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stammer,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stammer.
Source: stammer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.