falter vs stammer what difference

what is difference between falter and stammer

English

Alternative forms

• faulter (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English falteren (“to stagger”), further origin unknown. Possibly from a North Germanic source such as Old Norse faltrask (“be encumbered”). May also be a frequentative of fold, although the change from d to t is unusual.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːltə(r)/, /ˈfɒltə(r)/

Noun

falter

1. unsteadiness.

Translations

Verb

falter (third-person singular simple present falters, present participle faltering, simple past and past participle faltered)

1. To waver or be unsteady; to weaken or trail off.
   • 1672, Richard Wiseman, A Treatise of Wounds

     He found his legs falter.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To stammer; to utter with hesitation, or in a weak and trembling manner.
   • 1807, Lord Byron, Childish Recollections

     And here he faltered forth his last farewell.
3. To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise; said of the mind or of thought.
   • 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening

     Here indeed the power of distinctly conceiving of space and distance falters.

4. To stumble.
5. (figuratively) To lose faith or vigor; to doubt or abandon (a cause).

   • And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter.

6. To hesitate in purpose or action.
7. To cleanse or sift, as barley.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Translations

References

English

Etymology

From Middle English stameren, from Old English stamerian, from Proto-West Germanic *stamrōn, from Proto-Germanic *stamrōną (“to stammer”). Compare German stammeln, Dutch stameren, Old Norse stammr. Doublet of stumble.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈstæmə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈstæmɚ/
• Rhymes: -æmə(ɹ)

Verb

stammer (third-person singular simple present stammers, present participle stammering, simple past and past participle stammered)

1. (intransitive) To keep repeating a particular sound involuntarily during speech.
2. (transitive) To utter with a stammer, or with timid hesitancy.
   • 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xi:

Synonyms

• stutter

Translations

Noun

stammer (plural stammers)

1. The involuntary repetition of a sound in speech.

2. A speech defect whereby someone speaks with a stammer

Translations

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021), “stammer”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• stremma

Danish

Noun

stammer c

1. indefinite plural of stamme

Verb

stammer

1. present of stamme

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

stammer m

1. indefinite plural of stamme

Verb

stammer

1. present tense of stamme

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• stammar

Noun

stammer m or f

1. indefinite feminine plural of stamme

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