twitter

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See also: Twitter

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English twitren, twiteren, from Old English twiterian, from Proto-West Germanic *twitwiʀōn, from Proto-Germanic *twitwizōną (“to chirp; twitter”). Cognate with German zwitzern, zwitschern (“to twitter”) and Low German twitteren (“to twitter”). Compare also Dutch kwetteren (“to twitter”), Danish kvidre (“to twitter”), Swedish kvittra (“to twitter”), dialectal Swedish tittra (“to twitter”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

twitter (countable and uncountable, plural twitters)

  1. The sound of a succession of chirps as uttered by birds.
    I often listen to the twitter of the birds in the park.
  2. A tremulous broken sound.
  3. A slight trembling of the nerves.
  4. Unwanted flicker that occurs in interlaced displays when the image contains vertical detail that approaches the horizontal resolution of the video format.
    • 1986, IEEE, Second International Conference on Simulators: 7-11 September 1986 (page 145)
      Interline twitter occurs on interlaced displays at half the field-rate.

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

twitter (third-person singular simple present twitters, present participle twittering, simple past and past participle twittered)

  1. (intransitive) To utter a succession of chirps.
    • 1750, Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, 1825, The Works of Thomas Gray, Volume I, page 114,
      The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn, / The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,
    • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, H.L. Brækstad, transl., Folk and Fairy Tales, page 278:
      The swallows, which had been tempted here in great numbers on account of the quantity of insects to be found in proximity to the wood, and had established themselves in the barn and under the eaves, were gambolling, circling, and twittering fearlessly about in the sunshine.
  2. (intransitive, transitive) (of a person) To talk in an excited or nervous manner.
  3. To make the sound of a half-suppressed laugh; to titter; to giggle.
  4. To have a slight trembling of the nerves; to be excited or agitated.
  5. (obsolete, transitive) To twit; to reproach or upbraid.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar […], OCLC 928184292:
      I have repented of it many’s the good time and oft. And if he was so good to forgive me a word spoken in haste or so, it doth not become such a one as you to twitter me. He was a husband to me, he was; and if ever I did make use of an ill word or so in a passion, I never called him rascal […]
  6. Alternative form of Twitter
    • 2009 March 2, Michelle Levi, “McCain Criticizes Obama On The Senate Floor”, in CBS News‎[1], retrieved 2 March 2009:
      In addition to listing specific earmarks he finds the most reprehensible, McCain said he has been twittering the “top ten” most egregious

Synonyms[edit]

  • (internet neologism): tweet

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English Twitter

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

twitter

  1. (transitive, intransitive, Internet) to tweet (to post to Twitter)

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of twitter (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple twitter
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple twittant
/twi.tɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle twitté
/twi.te/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present twitte
/twit/ 		twittes
/twit/ 		twitte
/twit/ 		twittons
/twi.tɔ̃/ 		twittez
/twi.te/ 		twittent
/twit/
imperfect twittais
/twi.tɛ/ 		twittais
/twi.tɛ/ 		twittait
/twi.tɛ/ 		twittions
/twi.tjɔ̃/ 		twittiez
/twi.tje/ 		twittaient
/twi.tɛ/
past historic2 twittai
/twi.te/ 		twittas
/twi.ta/ 		twitta
/twi.ta/ 		twittâmes
/twi.tam/ 		twittâtes
/twi.tat/ 		twittèrent
/twi.tɛʁ/
future twitterai
/twi.tʁe/ 		twitteras
/twi.tʁa/ 		twittera
/twi.tʁa/ 		twitterons
/twi.tʁɔ̃/ 		twitterez
/twi.tʁe/ 		twitteront
/twi.tʁɔ̃/
conditional twitterais
/twi.tʁɛ/ 		twitterais
/twi.tʁɛ/ 		twitterait
/twi.tʁɛ/ 		twitterions
/twi.tə.ʁjɔ̃/ 		twitteriez
/twi.tə.ʁje/ 		twitteraient
/twi.tʁɛ/
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present twitte
/twit/ 		twittes
/twit/ 		twitte
/twit/ 		twittions
/twi.tjɔ̃/ 		twittiez
/twi.tje/ 		twittent
/twit/
imperfect2 twittasse
/twi.tas/ 		twittasses
/twi.tas/ 		twittât
/twi.ta/ 		twittassions
/twi.ta.sjɔ̃/ 		twittassiez
/twi.ta.sje/ 		twittassent
/twi.tas/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — twitte
/twit/ 		— twittons
/twi.tɔ̃/ 		twittez
/twi.te/ 		—
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is only usable with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Related terms[edit]

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