utter

English

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈʌtə/
• (US) IPA: /ˈʌtɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌtə(r)

Etymology 1

Old English ūtera, comparative of ūt (“out”); compare outer.

Adjective

utter (not comparable)

1. (now poetic, literary) Outer; furthest out, most remote. [from 10th c.]
2. (obsolete) Outward. [13th-16th c.]
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XXIII:

     Wo be to you scrybes and pharises ypocrites, for ye make clene the utter side off the cuppe, and off the platter: but within they are full of brybery and excesse.

3. Absolute, unconditional, total. [from 15th c.]

   This is utter nonsense!

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:total

Derived terms

• utterly
• utterness
• uttermost

Translations

absolute

Danish: fuldkommen (da), komplet (da) Dutch: uiten (nl) Finnish: äärimmäinen (fi), täydellinen (fi) French: absolu (fr), total (fr) German: völlig (de) Hungarian: teljes (hu) Italian: assoluto (it), totale (it), completo (it) Norwegian: Bokmål: ren (nb), fullstendig (nb) Nynorsk: rein (nn), fullstendig (nn)

Portuguese: completamente (pt), totalmente (pt) Scottish Gaelic: dearg (gd) Slovak: úplný, totálny, číry Slovene: skrajni (sl) Spanish: total (es), completo (es) Swedish: ren (sv), fullständig (sv)

Etymology 2

Partly from out (adverb/verb), partly from Middle Dutch uteren.

Verb

utter (third-person singular simple present utters, present participle uttering, simple past and past participle uttered)

1. (transitive) To say

   Don't you utter another word!

2. (transitive) To use the voice

   Sally uttered a sigh of relief.

   The dog uttered a growling bark.

3. (transitive) To make speech sounds which may or may not have an actual language involved

   Sally is uttering some fairly strange things in her illness.

4. (transitive) To make (a noise)

   Sally's car uttered a hideous shriek when she applied the brakes.

5. (transitive) To put counterfeit money etc. into circulation

Derived terms

• utterance
• utterer
• utterless
• utterable

Translations

say

Arabic: نطق (ب) (ar) (naTaqa bi-) Czech: vyřknout (cs), pronést (cs) Danish: ytre (da), udtrykke (da) Dutch: zeggen (nl), uiten (nl), uitbrengen (nl) Finnish: sanoa (fi), virkkaa (fi), inahtaa (fi) German: ausstoßen, äußern Hungarian: kiejt (hu), megszólal (hu) Italian: pronunciare (it), proferire (it), dire (it)

Latin: proloquor (la), loquor (la), effor (la) Norwegian: Bokmål: ytre (nb) Nynorsk: ytre (nn) Portuguese: dizer (pt), falar (pt), pronunciar (pt) Slovene: reči (sl) Swedish: yttra (sv)

use the voice

Czech: vydat (zvuk) (cs) Danish: udstøde (da) Dutch: uiten (nl) Finnish: päästää (fi) German: ausstoßen Italian: tirare (it), esalare (it)

Latin: proloquor (la), loquor (la), effor (la) Norwegian: Bokmål: utstøte (nb), utstøyte (nb) Portuguese: dizer (pt), falar (pt), pronunciar (pt) Slovene: reči (sl) Spanish: pronunciar (es) Swedish: utstöta

make speech sounds

Czech: blekotat (cs) Dutch: uiten (nl) Finnish: houria (fi), päästää (fi), tuottaa (fi) Italian: biascicare (it), proferire (it)

Latin: proloquor (la), loquor (la), effor (la) Polish: mamrotać (pl) Portuguese: pronunciar (pt), balbuciar (pt) Slovene: izgovoriti (sl)

make a noise

Dutch: produceren (nl), voortbrengen (nl) Finnish: päästää (fi), tuottaa (fi) German: ausstoßen Italian: emettere (it)

Latin: proloquor (la), loquor (la), effor (la) Portuguese: emitir (pt) Slovene: oglasiti se (sl) Spanish: emitir (es) Swedish: ge till

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French : proférer, produire/émettre (a sound) Ido : prononcar Slovak : vysloviť, prehovoriť (1); zastonať (2), ozvať sa (3), vydať zvuk (4)

put counterfeit money etc. into circulation

Czech: dát do oběhu peníze (cs)

Etymology 3

Old English ūtor, comparative of ūt (“out”).

Adverb

utter (comparative more utter, superlative most utter)

1. (obsolete) Further out; further away, outside.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VI:

     So whan he com nyghe to hir, she bade hym ryde uttir – ‘for thou smellyst all of the kychyn.’

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Swedish

Noun

utter c.

1. otter; a mammal of the family Mustelidae

Declension

Declension of utter

	singular		plural
Common	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	utter	uttern	uttrar	uttrarna
genitive	utters	utterns	uttrars	uttrarnas