titubant

English

WOTD – 12 August 2009

Etymology

From French titubant, present participle of tituber, from Latin titubāre (“falter”), present active infinitive of titubō.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪtəbənt/, /ˈtɪt͡ʃəbənt/

  • Audio (Southern England)

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Adjective

titubant (comparative more titubant, superlative most titubant)

1. stumbling, staggering; with the movement of one who is tipsy
   • 1896, Robert Louis Stevenson, Macaire, act i, scene 2 (stage directions):

     To these, by the door L. C., the CURATE and the NOTARY, arm in arm; the latter owl-like and titubant

   • 1928, Acta Psychiatrica et Neurologica, volume 3, page 65:

     His walk had become titubant.

   • 1948, Karl Pearson, Treasury of Human Inheritance: Nervous Diseases and Muscular Dystrophies, page 253:

     her feet showed the typical Friedreich's deformity; her speech was drawling and monotonous; her gait was staggering and titubant

Synonyms

• (stumbling, staggering): lurching, reeling, staggering, stumbling, unsteady, vacillating

Related terms

• titubate
• titubation

Translations

stumbing, staggering

• Catalan: titubant (ca), titubejant (ca)
• Finnish: horjuva (fi)
• Latin: titubāns

Catalan

Verb

titubant

1. gerund of titubar

French

Participle

titubant

1. present participle of tituber
2. (preceded by en) gerund of tituber

Further reading

• “titubant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Verb

titubant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of titubō