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Added 9 October 2026

chatter

/ˈtʃætə/ noun

In Latin: blaterō, garriō Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about chatter at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Noisy talk.
The rapid series of noises made by the parts of a machine.
The high-pitched continuing noise made by animals (birds or monkeys).

verb

Click repeatedly or uncontrollably.
Chattering teeth
Cut unevenly with a chattering tool.
Talk socially without exchanging too much information.
the men were sitting in the cafe and shooting the breeze

Origin

From Middle English chateren, from earlier cheteren, chiteren (“to twitter, chatter, jabber”), of imitative origin. Compare Saterland Frisian tjoaterje (“to chatter”), West Frisian tsjotterje (“to chatter”), Dutch schateren, schetteren (“chatter”), Dutch koeteren (“jabber”), Middle Low German kidderen (“to chatter”), German Low German queteln (“to chatter”), dialectal German kaudern (“to gobble (like a turkey)”), Danish kvidre (“to twitter, chirp”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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