Etymograph

English

twitter

Twitter comes from Middle English twitren, from Old English *twiterian, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *twitwizōną ‘to chirp’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*twitwizōną‘to chirp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*twitwiʀōnreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*twiterianreconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500twitren
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1616–1619twitter

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*twitwizōną‘to chirp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*twitwiʀōnreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*twiterianreconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500twitren
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1616–1619twitter

Earliest quotation: c. 1616–1619, The Loyal Subiect: “Oh, the young handsom wenches, how they twitter'd, /…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *twitwizōną

Today it means

noun The sound of a succession of chirps as uttered by birds.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *twitwizōną / twitter

Shirt and support for this word