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
| 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 |