Where does “teeter-totter” come from?
teeter-totter (English) comes from English teeter, from English titter, from English tit, from Middle English tit, from Old English tit, from Old English titt, from Proto-Germanic titt-, from Proto-Indo-European tata- — poison, venom.
teeter-totter (English): A seesaw; a piece of playground equipment...
Definitions
- A seesaw; a piece of playground equipment...
Ancestry of “teeter-totter”, step by step
teeter-totter traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English teeter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | teeter | To tilt back and forth on an edge; To be... |
| 2 | English | titter | To laugh or giggle in a somewhat subdued or... |
| 3 | English | tit | A mammary gland, teat; A woman's breast; An... |
| 4 | Middle English | tit | — |
| 5 | Old English | tit | — |
| 6 | Old English | titt | tit, teat, breast; nipple |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | titt- | teat; nipple; breast |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | tata- | father; parent; nipple |
| 9 | Sanskrit | तथा | in that manner |
| 10 | Sanskrit | यथा | in which manner or way, according as, as, like |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | HyátʰaH | in which way, as, in which manner |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | yós | that, who, which |
| 13 | Proto-Finnic | wiša | — |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | wišás | poison, venom |
via English totter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | totter | To walk, move or stand unsteadily or falteringly;... |
| 2 | Middle English | totren | — |
| 3 | Middle English | tolteren | — |
| 4 | Old English | tealtrian | to shake, stagger, be unsteady, be uncertain,... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | taltrōną | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | taltōną | to sway, dangle, hesitate |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | del- | to aim, calculate, adjust, count; to reckon,... |