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Origin and history of flutter

flutter(v.)

Middle English floteren, "flutter, hover; be tossed by waves," from Old English floterian "to flutter (of birds), to fly before, flicker, float to and fro, be tossed by waves," frequentative of flotian "to float" (see float (v.)).

The meaning "throw (someone) into confusion" is attested by 1660s. Related: Fluttered; fluttering.

As a noun, "quick, irregular motion," it is attested from 1640s; the meaning "state of excitement" is by 1740s.

Flutterpate "flighty person" is attested from 1894 (flutter-pate) in a Scottish context.

Entries linking to flutter

float(v.)

late Old English flotian "to rest on the surface of water" (intransitive; class II strong verb; past tense fleat, past participle floten), from Proto-Germanic *flotan "to float" (source also of Old Norse flota, Middle Dutch vloten, Old High German flozzan, German flössen), from PIE *plud-, extended form of root *pleu- "to flow."

Meaning "drift about, hover passively" is from c. 1300. Transitive sense of "to lift up, cause to float" (of water, etc.) is from c. 1600; that of "set (something) afloat" is from 1778 (originally of financial operations). Of motion through air, from 1630s. Meaning "hover dimly before the eyes" is from 1775. Related: Floated; floating. A floating rib (by 1802) is so called because the anterior ends are not connected to the rest.

aflutter(adv., adj.)

"in a fluttering state, agitated," 1830, from a- (1) + flutter (n.).

*pleu-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to flow."

It might form all or part of: fletcher; fledge; flee; fleet (adj.) "swift;" fleet (n.) "group of ships under one command;" fleet (v.) "to float, drift; flow, run;" fleeting; flight (n.1) "act of flying;" flight (n.2) "act of fleeing;" flit; float; flood; flotsam; flotilla; flow; flue; flugelhorn; fluster; flutter; fly (v.1) "move through the air with wings;" fly (n.) "winged insect;" fowl; plover; Pluto; plutocracy; pluvial; pneumo-; pneumonia; pneumonic; pulmonary.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit plavate "navigates, swims;" Greek plynein "to wash," plein "to navigate," ploein "to float, swim," plotos "floating, navigable," pyelos "trough, basin;" Latin plovere "to rain," pluvius "rainy;" Armenian luanam "I wash;" Old English flowan "to flow;" Old Church Slavonic plovo "to flow, navigate;" Lithuanian pilu, pilti "to pour out," plauju, plauti "to swim, rinse."

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    waver
    late 13c., weyveren, "to show indecision," probably related to Old English wæfre "restless, wavering," from Proto-Germanic *wæbraz (source also of Middle High German wabern "to waver," Old Norse vafra "to hover about"), a frequentative form from the root of wave (v.), with German
    quiver
    "to tremble, shake tremulously, shudder," late 15c., perhaps imitative, or possibly an alteration of quaveren (see quaver), or from quiver (adj.) "active, agile, lively, brisk" (mid-13c.), from Old English cwifer- (in cwiferlice "zealously"), which is perhaps related to cwic "ali
    flit
    c. 1200, flitten, flytten, flutten "convey, move (a thing) from one place to another, take, carry away," also intransitive, "go away, move, migrate," from Old Norse flytja "to remove, bring," from Proto-Germanic *flutjan- "to float," from extended form of PIE root *pleu- "to flow
    palpitation
    " from Latin palpitationem (nominative palpitatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of palpitare "to throb, to flutter...
    papillon
    Latin papilionem (nominative papilio) "butterfly," which is perhaps from a reduplicated form of a PIE root *pl- "to fly, flutter...
    marrowsky
    as the 'Gower-street dialect'), which consisted in transposing the initials of words; as 'poke a smipe' = smoke a pipe; 'flutter-by...
    flatter
    one of many imitative verbs beginning with fl- and denoting unsteady or light, repeated movement" (for example flicker, flutter...
    motion
    late 14c., mocioun, "process of moving; change of place, continuous variation of position;" also "suggestion, proposal or proposition formally made," from Old French mocion "movement, motion; change, alteration" (13c., Modern French motion) and directly from Latin motionem (nomin
    tempest
    "violent storm," late 13c., from Old French tempeste "storm; commotion, battle; epidemic, plague" (11c.), from Vulgar Latin *tempesta, from Latin tempestas "a storm, commotion; weather, season; occasion, time," related to tempus "time, season" (see temporal). Latin sense evolutio
    stir
    Middle English stiren, from Old English styrian, stirian "to move, be or become active or busy, pass into motion," also transitive, "to agitate with a rotating motion (a liquid or mixture by hand or with an instrument), move, change the location of; rouse, agitate, incite, urge;"

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