peter
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
-
- Rhymes: -iːtə(r)
[edit] Etymology 1
US, 1902, presumably from shared initial pe-.[1]
[edit] Noun
peter (plural peters)
- (hypocoristic slang) The penis.
[edit] Translations
[edit] Etymology 2
1812, US miners’ slang, Unknown.[2] Various speculative etymologies have been suggested.[3][4][5][6] One suggestion is that it comes from peter being an abbreviation of saltpeter, the key ingredient in gunpowder – when a mine was exhausted, it was “petered”. Other derivations are from St. Peter (from sense of “rock”), or French péter (“to fart”).
[edit] Verb
peter (third-person singular simple present peters, present participle petering, simple past and past participle petered)
- (only used in the phrase peter out) To dwindle; to trail off; to diminish to nothing
[edit] Usage notes
Originally used independently, today only used in the derived phrase peter out.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ “peter” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001
- ^ “peter” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001
- ^ “peter out”, The Phrase Finder, Gary Martin
- ^ ami: origin of “peter out”
- ^ Take Our Word For It #117
- ^ A Hog On Ice & Other Curious Expressions, Charles Funk, 1948.
