stotter

S1T1O1T1T1E1R1

verb

To stagger; totter; stumble

OriginMiddle English stoteren →
Scrabble 7
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Meanings

verbstotter (third-person singular simple present stotters, present participle stottering, simple past and past participle stottered)

present singular third person stotters · participle present stottering · participle past stottered · past stottered · alternative stowter · alternative stauter · alternative stawter

  1. Northern EnglandScotlanddialectalintransitiveTo stagger; totter; stumble

    When she sang in the kirk, folk have told me that they had a foretaste of the musick of the New Jerusalem, and when she came in by the village of Caulds old men stottered to their doors to look at her.

    1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

Origin

  1. Middle Englishstoten“to stumble”
  2. Middle Englishstoteren
  3. Englishstotter

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”).

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

stretto
Cite this entry
APA

stotter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stotter

MLA

“stotter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stotter. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stotter,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stotter.

Source: stotter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.