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cutthroat

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Etymology and origin of the English word cutthroat

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈkʌtθɹəʊt/[1]
  • US: /ˈkʌtθɹoʊt/[1]

cutthroat1 murderer; ruthless

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1538 Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland
Ultimate origins
Middle English cuttenOld English þrote
Etymology tree of cutthroat1
inherited borrowed derived
English cut
English cutthroat
From the same root · cutthroat1
English cutter ← cut
English haircut ← cut
English uncut ← cut
English undercut ← cut

Etymology

The word for the murderer is formed from English cut + throat, from the verb and the noun.[2][3][4][5][6] Etymonline, which files the word with a hyphen, compares the construction of daredevil.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A kind of light gun or firearm, in Scottish use: 1538, in the accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland.[2] The first sense in other dictionaries is the killer: Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1535, Etymonline to the 1530s and Dictionary.com to 1525–35,[5][3][6] while the OED's first quotation for it is of 1553, in T. Wilson's Arte of Rhetorique.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word first named one who cuts another's throat, a murderer or assassin,[2] and later any violent criminal, a use the OED now calls dated.[2] From 1556 it was also applied figuratively to something that threatens another thing's life.[2] The adjective follows in 1561, for murderous or bloodthirsty people and for places haunted by violent criminals, so that dark lanes were given it as a name or nickname;[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged has 1565 and Etymonline the 1560s.[5][3] Both Scottish uses for objects died out, the firearm by 1640 and a lantern with a light that could be concealed, recorded from 1668 to 1825.[2][4] The adjective then moved from killing to rivalry: Thackeray used it in 1842 of fierce competition carried on by ruthless means,[2] and the modern cutthroat competition keeps that sense.[5] American English applied the noun in 1818 to a game seen as especially ruthless, typically one in which three or more players play each for themselves,[2] and the adjective in 1846 to such games;[2] Etymonline dates the card-game use to 1823.[3] The adjective was used from 1612 of bladed weapons and open razors,[2] and the noun of such a razor by 1924.[2]

Timeline

  • 1538 – a light firearm, in Scotland (obsolete by 1640).[2]
  • 1553 – a murderer or assassin.[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates this sense to 1535.[5]
  • 1556 – figuratively, something that threatens another's life.[2]
  • 1561 – adjective, murderous, bloodthirsty.[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged has 1565.[5]
  • 1612 – adjective, of a weapon with a blade.[2]
  • 1668 – a dark lantern, in Scotland (obsolete by 1825).[2]
  • 1818 – a game in which each player plays alone, originally in the United States.[2] Etymonline has 1823 for card games.[3]
  • 1842 – adjective, of competition, fierce and ruthless.[2]
  • 1844 – the mustang grape, in Texas.[2]
  • 1846 – adjective, of a game with no partners.[2]
  • 1924 – a razor with a long folding blade.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A murderer, especially a hired killer; any fierce and unprincipled person: The harbour taverns were full of cutthroats.[5][2][4]
  2. A game for three or more players in which each plays alone, without a partner, especially a card game.[2][4][5]
  3. A razor with a long blade folding into its handle; a straight razor.[2][5]
  4. (Texas) The fruit of the mustang grape, which irritates the skin.[2][4]
  5. A kosher hide.[5]
  6. (obsolete, 1538–1640) A kind of light firearm, in Scotland.[2][4]
  7. (obsolete, 1668–1825) A dark lantern, in Scotland.[2][4]

Adjective

  1. Murderous, cruel; of a place, frequented by violent criminals.[5][2][3]
  2. Of competition, fierce and ruthless: cutthroat pricing among the airlines.[5][2]
  3. Of a game, played by three or more without partners: cutthroat bridge.[5][2]
  4. Of a bladed weapon or razor, having an open blade: a cutthroat razor.[2]

Word family

  • cutthroat razor

cutthroat2 finch and trout

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1790
Ultimate origins
Middle English cuttenOld English þrote
Etymology tree of cutthroat2
inherited borrowed derived
English cut
English cutthroat
From the same root · cutthroat2
English cutter ← cut
English haircut ← cut
English uncut ← cut
English undercut ← cut

Etymology

The word for the finch and the trout is formed from English cut + throat, the first element being the adjective rather than the verb.[2] Both animals have red markings on the throat.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An African finch popular as a cage bird: 1790.[2]

Semantic evolution

The bird's name is also recorded in full as cutthroat finch and cutthroat weaver,[4][5] and the fish's as cutthroat trout, of which the bare noun is a shortening according to Merriam-Webster Unabridged.[4][5] The fish's name followed about a century after the bird's, in 1885.[2]

Timeline

  • 1790 – a finch of sub-Saharan Africa.[2]
  • 1885 – a trout of western North America.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small African finch, Amadina fasciata, the male with a red band around the throat, kept as a cage bird.[2][4][5]
  2. A trout of western North America, Oncorhynchus clarkii, with red markings on the throat, popular as a game fish.[2][4][5]

Word family

  • cutthroat trout

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
Cite this entry

“Cutthroat.” Etymologically, 6 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/cutthroat. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

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