halter
English edit
Pronunciation edit
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhɔltɚ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhɒltə/, /ˈhɔːltə/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔːltə(ɹ), -ɒltə(ɹ)
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English halter, helter, helfter, from Old English hælfter, hælftre (“halter”), from Proto-West Germanic *halftrijā (“harness”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to cut”), equivalent to half- + -ter. Cognate with Scots helter (“halter”), Dutch halfter, halster (“halter”), Low German halfter, helchter, halter (“halter”), German Halfter (“halter, holster”).
Alternative forms edit
Noun edit
halter (plural halters)
- A bitless headpiece of rope or straps, placed on the head of animals such as cattle or horses to lead or tie them.
- A rope with a noose, for hanging criminals; the gallows rope.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
- And Crates said, that love was cured with hunger, if not by time; and in him that liked not these two meanes, by the halter [translating hart].
- 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
- “ […] No rogue e’er felt the halter draw, with a good opinion of the law, and perhaps my own detestation of the law arises from my having frequently broken it. […].”
- A halter top.
Synonyms edit
- headstall
- headpiece
- headcollar (British)
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
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Verb edit
halter (third-person singular simple present halters, present participle haltering, simple past and past participle haltered)
- (transitive) To place a halter on.
- What do you mean, you didn't halter the horses when we stopped for the night?
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
halter (plural halters)
Etymology 3 edit
Noun edit
halter (plural halteres)
- Alternative form of haltere
Anagrams edit
Catalan edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἁλτῆρες (haltêres).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
halter m (plural halters)
Further reading edit
- “halter” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French haltère or directly from Latin haltēres, from Ancient Greek ἁλτῆρες (haltêres).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
halter m (plural halters, diminutive haltertje n)
Middle English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old English hælftre, hælfter, from Proto-West Germanic *halftrijā.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
halter (plural haltres)
- A halter; horse headgear lacking a bit.
- (rare) A rope tied in a noose for hanging.
- (rare) The binding contract of marriage.
Descendants edit
References edit
- “halter, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-06.
Norwegian Bokmål edit
Verb edit
halter
Portuguese edit
Noun edit
halter m (plural halteres)
- Alternative form of haltere
Swedish edit
Noun edit
halter
- indefinite plural of halt