litter
/ˈlɪt.ɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.71 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals.
Countable; Obsolete
noun
A mobile bed or couch transported upon or suspended from poles placed over human shoulders or animal backs.
Countable
noun
A mobile bed or couch transported upon or suspended from poles placed over human shoulders or animal backs.
Countable
noun
A mobile bed or couch transported upon or suspended from poles placed over human shoulders or animal backs.
Countable
Example Sentences
- "Quen he had made me hale and fere"
- "As pelows ben to chambres agreable So is harde strawe lytter for the stable."
- "To place daily under those Animals... a sufficient quantity of fresh New Straw, well spread, which is call'd making of Litter."
- "John Baldwin held the manor of Oterarsee in Aylesbury of the king in soccage, by the service of finding litter for the king's bed, viz. in summer grass or herbs, and in winter straw."
- "The afterwards dry the horsedung in the sun, beat it with a mallet through fine sieves, and make it into litter for the horses; for no straw can be obtained for litter in Constantinople."
- "Near-synonyms: pallet, straw bed, hay bed (all broadly synonymous)"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-der. Latin lectus Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -ārius Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂ Proto-Italic *-ā Latin -a Latin -āria Late Latin lectuāria Old French litiere Anglo-Norman literebor. Middle English litere English litter Inherited from Middle English litere, borrowed from Anglo-Norman litere, from Old French litiere (“bedding; bed of loose straw; litter”), from Late Latin lectuāria, from Latin lectus + -āria.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈlɪt.ɚ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
litters (plural)
liter (alternative)
litere (alternative)
lytter (alternative)
lyttre (alternative)
littor (alternative)
littour (alternative)
litre (alternative)
licter (alternative)
letter (alternative)
lictier (alternative)
licture (alternative)