Etymologically
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twitter

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈtwɪt.ə/, US /ˈtwɪt̬.ɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English twiteren, of imitative origin,[2][3][4] with the frequentative suffix -er.[3][4] Compare Old High German zwizzirōn and German zwitschern, “to twitter”, Danish kvidre and Old Swedish kvitra, which imitate the same sound.[2][3][5] The noun is from the verb.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a bird, to utter a series of light, trembling notes: about 1374 in the OED[6] and about 1380 in Barnhart, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius: “The janglynge brid twitriþ”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

“To tremble, quiver with excitement” is from before 1616.[3][6] The noun first meant a state of agitation or flutter, in Butler's Hudibras (1678),[3][6] whence in a twitter; a suppressed laugh, a titter, is a dialect sense from 1736.[6] The bird's chirping is a twitter from 1842.[6] Of people, especially women, “to talk or sing in a twittering way” is from 1829.[6] The microblogging service Twitter was launched in 2006.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1374 – of birds, to chirp.[6]
  • before 1616 – to tremble.[3][6]
  • 1678 – noun, a flutter.[3][6]
  • 1736 – a titter.[6]
  • 1829 – of people, to chatter.[6]
  • 1842 – the chirping of birds.[6]
  • 2006 – the service Twitter.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. Of a bird, to make a series of light chirping sounds.
  2. To talk quickly and nervously; to giggle.
  3. To tremble with nervous excitement.

Noun

  1. A light chirping sound, as of birds.
  2. A state of nervous excitement: all of a twitter.

Word family

  • twitterer
  • twittery
  • twitteringly
  • atwitter
  • titter
  • twit
  • chirp
  • tweet

Usage notes

Several dialect words are spelled twitter: a form of quitter, a sore on a horse's hoof (1892),[6][7] the thin part of a badly spun thread,[6][2] and a tale-bearer, one who twits (1854).[6]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ 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)