Utter
Origin 1
From Old English Å«tera, comparative of Å«t ("out"); compare outer.
Full definition of utter
Adjective
utter
- (now poetic, literary) Outer; furthest out, most remote. from 10th c.
- ChapmanBy him a shirt and utter mantle laid.
- SpenserAs doth an hidden moth
The inner garment fret, not th' utter touch. - MiltonThrough utter and through middle darkness borne.
- (obsolete) Outward. 13th–16th c.
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XXIII:Wo be to you scrybes and pharises ypocrites, for ye make clene the utter side off the cuppe, and off the platter: but within they are full of brybery and excesse.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.10:So forth without impediment I past,
Till to the Bridges utter gate I came .... - Absolute, unconditional, total, complete. from 15th c.utter ruin; utter darkness
- AtterburyThey ... are utter strangers to all those anxious thoughts which disquiet mankind.
- 1920 , Edgar Rice Burroughs , Thuvia, Maiden of Mars Chapter , His eyes could not penetrate the darkness even to the distinguishing of his hand before his face, while the banths, he knew, could see quite well, though absence of light were utter.
Synonyms
- see also
Origin 2
Partly from out (adverb/verb), partly from Middle Dutch uteren.
Verb
- (transitive) To sayDon't you utter another word!
- (transitive) To use the voiceSally uttered a sigh of relief.The dog uttered a growling bark.
- (transitive) To make speech sounds which may or may not have an actual language involvedSally is uttering some fairly strange things in her illness.
- (transitive) To make (a noise)Sally's car uttered a hideous shriek when she applied the brakes.
- (legal, transitive) To put counterfeit money etc. into circulation
Origin 3
Old English Å«tor, comparative of Å«t ("out").