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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 Low German twitteren (“to twitter”), German zwitzern, zwitschern (“to twitter”). Compare also Dutch kwetteren (“to twitter”), Danish kvidre (“to twitter”), Swedish kvittra (“to twitter”), dialectal Swedish tittra (“to twitter”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: twĭt'ər, IPA(key): /ˈtwɪt.ə(ɹ)/
Audio (UK) (file)
- (General American) enPR: twĭt'ər, IPA(key): /ˈtwɪt.ɚ/, /ˈtwɪt̬.ɚ/, [ˈtʰwɪɾ.ɚ]
- Rhymes: -ɪtə(ɹ)
Noun[edit]
twitter (countable and uncountable, plural twitters)
- The sound of a succession of chirps as uttered by birds.
- I often listen to the twitter of the birds in the park.
- A tremulous broken sound.
- A slight trembling of the nerves.
- 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.
- 1986, IEEE, Second International Conference on Simulators: 7-11 September 1986 (page 145)
Translations[edit]
sound made by birds
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Verb[edit]
twitter (third-person singular simple present twitters, present participle twittering, simple past and past participle twittered)
- (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.
- 1750, Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, 1825, The Works of Thomas Gray, Volume I, page 114,
- (intransitive, transitive) (of a person) To talk in an excited or nervous manner.
- To make the sound of a half-suppressed laugh; to titter; to giggle.
- c. 1616–1619 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Loyal Svbiect”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, OCLC 3083972, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- Oh, the young handsom wenches, how they twitter'd,
When they but saw me shake my ware, and sing too!
- To have a slight trembling of the nerves; to be excited or agitated.
- (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 […]
- 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]
to utter chirps
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French[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
- (transitive, intransitive, Internet) to tweet (to post to Twitter)
Conjugation[edit]
Conjugation of twitter (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive | simple | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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, on | 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 | – | – | – | ||||
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 usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). |
Related terms[edit]
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪtə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ɪtə(ɹ)/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English terms with quotations
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- en:Animal sounds
- French terms derived from English
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French verbs
- French transitive verbs
- French intransitive verbs
- fr:Internet
- French verbs with conjugation -er
- French first group verbs