Etymologically
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chatter

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈt͡ʃætɚ/[1]
  • UK: /ˈtʃætə/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English chateren, also cheateren and chatren,[2][3] an imitative formation,[4][2][5][6][7] which the OED and the Shorter Oxford analyse as an imitative base with the frequentative suffix -er found in verbs of repeated action.[4][8] The OED compares chitter, twitter, mutter and jabber,[4] and Barnhart and Etymonline compare Dutch koeteren (“to jabber”) and kwetteren (“to chatter”) and Danish kvidre (“to twitter, chirp”).[3][9] The verb chat is a shortening of chatter, recorded from the 15th century.[10][9][11] The noun comes from the verb.[4][6][9] Johnson (1755) derived the verb from French caqueter.[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of birds, to twitter, to utter quick, short, high notes: before 1250, in a manuscript of the Ancrene Riwle, which calls the sparrow a cheaterinde brid that cheatereð euer ant chirmeð.[4][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word began with the sound of birds and passed to people: about 1275, in The Owl and the Nightingale, it already meant to talk on and on about trivial things, and the noun, continuous idle talk, is recorded from the same poem.[4] Etymonline dates the noun sense "idle or foolish talk" only from 1831, giving the noun first as a run of quick, shrill sounds made by birds.[9] The chattering of the teeth, knocking together with cold or fear, is recorded from about 1390 (transitive) and about 1440 (of the teeth themselves).[4][9] Shakespeare's Tempest applied the verb to apes,[4][8] and since 1825 it has been used of objects that rattle or clatter and of machines and tools that vibrate unwantedly;[4] the noun has had this mechanical sense since 1866.[4] Johnson (1755) defined the verb as making a noise like a magpie or another unmusical bird.[12] A new sense appeared in 1995: radio or electronic communication among suspected groups, monitored by intelligence agencies.[4][13][6] Weekley dates chatterbox to the 19th century and takes it as modelled on the much older saucebox.[14]

Timeline

  • before 1250 – of birds, to twitter (Ancrene Riwle).[4][2]
  • c. 1275 – to talk continuously about trivial things; noun, continuous idle talk.[4]
  • c. 1390 – to knock the teeth together.[4]
  • c. 1440 – of teeth, to rattle together from cold or fear.[4]
  • 1536 – transitive, to say something rapidly.[4]
  • before 1616 – of animals other than birds, especially monkeys and squirrels.[4]
  • 1825 – of objects, to rattle; of machines, to vibrate.[4]
  • 1866 – noun, unwanted mechanical vibration.[4]
  • 1995 – noun, communication monitored by an intelligence agency.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To talk quickly and at length, especially about trivial matters; to prattle: The children chattered all the way to the beach.[13][6][4]
  2. Of birds, monkeys and other animals, to make rapid, repeated high-pitched sounds.[13][6][4]
  3. Of the teeth, to knock together rapidly, from cold or fear.[13][4]
  4. Of a tool or machine part, to vibrate or make rapid intermittent contact, so that it cuts or runs unevenly.[13][4]

Noun

  1. Idle or rapid talk; gossip: the chatter of the guests in the hall.[13][6][4]
  2. The rapid high-pitched sounds of birds or animals.[13][6][4]
  3. Radio or electronic communication among people under suspicion, as monitored by an intelligence or security agency.[13][4]
  4. Unwanted vibration of a machine or cutting tool, or the marks it leaves.[6][4]

Word family

  • chatterer
  • chattery
  • chatteringly
  • chatterbox
  • outchatter
  • chatter mark

Usage notes

In northern English and Scottish dialect chatter was also a verb meaning to tear, wear into holes by rubbing, or gnaw, which Wright compares with a dialect verb chat.[15] Dialect compounds such as chatter-basket and chatter-mag meant a talkative person.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  12. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  15. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  16. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com