flutter

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English floteren (“to be tossed by waves; to flutter, hover”),^[2][3][4] inherited from Old English floterian (“to be tossed by waves; to flutter, fly before”),^[3][5][6][7] a frequentative^[3][8][9] of flotian (“to float”),^[3][4][10] the source of float.^[3][10] The OED takes the Old English verb as formed on flot-, the weak grade of the root of flēotan (“to float”), the source of fleet.^[6][11] Kroonen reconstructs Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float, stream”) as an iterative to *fleutaną, and mentions the frequentative floterian.^[12] Collins and the Shorter Oxford compare German flattern (“to flutter”).^[13][9] The American Heritage Dictionary refers the word to the root Proto-Indo-European *pleu-.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before 1000, in Old English glosses to Prudentius, the verb meant to be tossed on the waves and, of birds, to make short quick flights.^[6][5][4] In later Old English texts the heart "flutters" with covetousness, and eyes move restlessly with excitement.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The sense "to float to and fro on the waves" lasted until about 1800,^[6][9] and the Middle English verb also meant to waver or fluctuate: Chaucer used it once, in his translation of Boethius (about 1380).^[4][14][2] The bird's quick flapping became the main sense, which led to quivering motion of any kind (1561), including the irregular beating of the heart or pulse,^[6] and the inner trembling of excitement (1668).^[6] Used transitively, flutter meant to throw a person into confusion from the 1660s,^[6][3] as in Shakespeare's eagle that "flutter'd your Volscians" in Coriolanus, which Johnson (1755) quoted for "to drive in disorder, like a flock of birds suddenly roused";^[15][6] to flutter the dovecotes is to alarm quiet people.^[6][11] The noun, first recorded in Milton (1641),^[6][4] soon also meant a show or stir (1667–1822) and a state of nervous excitement (1741), as in all of a flutter.^[6][3] In 19th-century slang a flutter was a short trip or outing (1857) and a venture at betting or cards (1874), now usually a small bet;^[6][16][11] Weekley calls the betting sense 19th-century slang.^[11] The 20th century added technical senses: a rapid but regular contraction of the heart (1910), the dangerous oscillation of an aircraft wing (1911), rapid tonguing on a wind instrument (1926) and a fluctuation in the pitch of reproduced sound (1931).^[6][13] In Scots and northern English dialect the verb, also fluther and fludder, meant to flutter, agitate or confuse, and in Cheshire to brandish a stick.^[17]

Timeline

• before 1000 – Old English floterian, to be tossed on the waves; of birds, to flutter.^[6][5]
• c. 1300 – Middle English floteren, to be tossed by waves.^[2][4]
• c. 1380 – to waver, fluctuate, in Chaucer's Boece.^[4][14]
• 1561 – to quiver; of the heart or pulse, to beat rapidly and irregularly.^[6]
• 1621 – transitive, to cause to flutter.^[6]
• 1641 – noun, a fluttering motion, in Milton.^[6][4] Etymonline dates the noun to the 1640s.^[3]
• 1664 – to throw a person into confusion.^[6][3]
• 1668 – to tremble with excitement.^[6]
• 1741 – a state of tremulous excitement.^[6][3]
• 1857 – slang, a short trip or outing.^[6][16]
• 1874 – slang, a venture at betting or cards.^[6]
• 1910 – medicine, a very rapid but regular contraction of the heart.^[6]
• 1911 – an abnormal oscillation of an aircraft's wing.^[6]
• 1931 – a rapid fluctuation in the pitch of reproduced sound.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of a bird or insect, to flap the wings rapidly, without flying or in short flights.^[13][18][6]
2. To wave or cause to wave rapidly; to move with quick vibrations or undulations: Flags fluttered above the stands.^[13][18][6]
3. To move, especially downwards, with a light irregular motion: Leaves fluttered onto the lawn.^[13][6]
4. Of the heart, to beat abnormally fast; of the pulse, to beat irregularly.^[13][6]
5. To be, or make someone, nervous, excited or restless.^[13][18][6]
6. To move about restlessly or aimlessly; to flit.^[13][6]
7. (swimming) To move the legs up and down in a flutter kick.^[13]
8. (British, informal) To wager a small sum.^[13]
9. (obsolete, Old English–1800) To float to and fro on the waves.^[6][9]

Noun

1. A quick flapping or vibrating motion.^[13][18][6]
2. A state of nervous excitement or agitation: She was all of a flutter before the interview.^[13][18][6]
3. Excited interest; a sensation or stir.^[13]
4. (British, informal) A small bet.^[13][6]
5. (pathology) An abnormally rapid but regular beating of the heart's atria.^[13][6]
6. (electronics) A rapid variation in the pitch of reproduced sound, similar to wow.^[13][6]
7. A dangerous oscillation of an aircraft or of part of it, such as a wing.^[13][6]

Word family

• flutterer
• fluttery
• flutteringly
• aflutter
• unflutterable
• flutterboard
• flutter kick
• flutter wheel

Related words

• float
• fleet

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
6. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c d Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
17. ^ 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)
18. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster