Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

otter

/ˈɑtɚ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.37 in modern English

Syllables
ot-ter
IPA
/ˈɑtɚ/
5
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An aquatic or marine carnivorous mammal in the subfamily Lutrinae.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

An aquatic or marine carnivorous mammal in the subfamily Lutrinae.

Uncountable

noun

A hairy man with a slender physique, in contrast with a bear, who is more thickset.

Countable; Slang; Uncountable

noun

annatto (dye)

Obsolete; Uncountable

noun

Archaic form of attar.

Archaic; Uncountable

name

A river with its source in the Blackdown Hills, Somerset, and which flows through Devon, to Lyme Bay in the English Channel.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English oter, otir, otur, otyre, from Old English otor, from Proto-West Germanic *otr, from Proto-Germanic *utraz, from Proto-Indo-European *udrós (“aquatic, water-animal”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Otter, Dutch otter, German Otter, Swedish utter, Norwegian oter, Icelandic otur, Sanskrit उद्र (udrá), Russian вы́дра (výdra), and Ancient Greek ὕδρα (húdra, “water snake”). Doublet of Hydra and hydra. More etymology under English water.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈɑtɚ/
  • British English: /ˈɒtə/

Usage

Inflected Forms

otters (plural)

Derived Forms

Otterhound ottering otterish otterless otterlike otterly ottermode otterskin ottery

Phrases

bear otter European otter giant otter King Otter marine otter Maxwell's otter otter board otter civet

Frequently Paired Words

Otterford Otterhead Otterton Ottery St Mary

Homonyms

odder (US) otter

Rhymes With

potter hotter mater saltwater trotter spotter cotter squatter plotter blotter imprimatur totter

Questions

How do you pronounce otter?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɑtɚ/.
What does otter mean?
An aquatic or marine carnivorous mammal in the subfamily Lutrinae.
Where does otter come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce otter

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “otter”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɑtɚ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “otter”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “otter” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.