totter

English

Etymology

From Middle English totren, toteren, from earlier *tolteren (compare English dialectal tolter (“to struggle, flounder”); Scots tolter (“unstable, wonky”)), from Old English tealtrian (“to totter, vacillate”), from Proto-Germanic *taltrōnan, *taltōnan (“to sway, dangle, hesitate”), from Proto-Indo-European *del-, *dul- (“to shake, hesitate”). Cognate with Dutch touteren (“to tremble”), North Frisian talt, tolt (“unstable, shaky”). Related to tilt.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈtɒtə/, X-SAMPA: /"tQt@/
• (US) IPA: /ˈtɑːtɚ/, X-SAMPA: /"tA:t@`/

  Rhymes: -ɒtə(r)

Noun

totter (plural totters)

1. an unsteady movement or gait
2. (archaic) A rag and bone man.

Translations

unsteady movement

• Dutch: tuimeling (nl), valpartij (nl)
• Finnish: horjunta (fi), hoipunta (fi)
• French: chute (fr) f, écroulement (fr)

• German: Schwanken n, Taumeln n, Torkeln n
• Serbo-Croatian: teturanje (sh)

Verb

totter (third-person singular simple present totters, present participle tottering, simple past and past participle tottered)

1. To walk,move or stand unsteadily or falteringly; threatening to fall.

   The baby tottered from the table to the chair.

   The old man tottered out of the pub into the street.

   The car tottered on the edge of the cliff.

2. (archaic, intransitive) To collect junk or scrap.

Synonyms

• (move unsteadily): teeter, toddle, sway

Translations

move or stand unsteadily

• Finnish: horjua (fi), hoippua (fi)
• German: schwanken (de), taumeln (de), torkeln (de)
• Hungarian: tántorog (hu), totyog (hu)
• Italian: barcollare (it)
• Russian: ковылять (ru) (kovyljatʹ)
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese Sardinian: istontonai

  Logudorese Sardinian: cantzicare, istontonare, tambulare, trampulinare

• Sassarese Sardinian: bantzigà, tamburà
• Serbo-Croatian: teturati (sh)

Related terms

• teeter-totter
• topple