twitter English · revision 3007

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=onomatopoeia|attested=c. 1374, Chaucer|origins=en twitter}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈtwɪt.ə/, US /ˈtwɪt̬.ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|twiteren]], of imitative origin,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) with the frequentative suffix -er.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Compare Old High German zwizzirōn and German zwitschern, “to twitter”, Danish kvidre and Old Swedish kvitra, which imitate the same sound.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The noun is from the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of a bird, to utter a series of light, trembling notes: about 1374 in the OED^(OED 1989) and about 1380 in Barnhart, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius: “The janglynge brid twitriþ”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “To tremble, quiver with excitement” is from before 1616.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The noun first meant a state of agitation or flutter, in Butler's ''Hudibras'' (1678),^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) whence ''in a twitter''; a suppressed laugh, a titter, is a dialect sense from 1736.^(OED 1989) The bird's chirping is a ''twitter'' from 1842.^(OED 1989) Of people, especially women, “to talk or sing in a twittering way” is from 1829.^(OED 1989) The microblogging service ''Twitter'' was launched in 2006.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – of birds, to chirp.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1616 – to tremble.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1678 – noun, a flutter.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1736 – a titter.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1829 – of people, to chatter.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1842 – the chirping of birds.^(OED 1989)

+ * 2006 – the service ''Twitter''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # Of a bird, to make a series of light [[chirp|alt=chirping]] sounds.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To talk quickly and nervously; to [[giggle]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To tremble with nervous excitement.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A light chirping sound, as of birds.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A state of nervous excitement: ''all of a twitter''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[twitterer]]

+ * [[twittery]]

+ * [[twitteringly]]

+ * [[atwitter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[titter]]

+ * [[twit]]

+ * [[chirp]]

+ * [[tweet]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Several dialect words are spelled ''twitter'': a form of ''quitter'', a sore on a horse's hoof (1892),^(OED 1989)^(Wright 1898) the thin part of a badly spun thread,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and a tale-bearer, one who twits (1854).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}