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dither

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Variant of didder, from Middle English dideren (“to tremble”). Compare Middle English bididren, bididdren (“to seduce, deceive”), from Old English bedidrian, bedyderian (“to deceive, trick”).

Alternatively, perhaps with expressive voicing from *titeren, from Proto-Germanic *titrōną. If so, then a doublet of teeter and cognate with Old High German zittarōn (German zittern) and Old Norse titra (Faroese titra, Icelandic titra). Alternatively an unrelated reduplicative onomatopoeia.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪðə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪðɚ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪðə(ɹ)

dither (third-person singular simple present dithers, present participle dithering, simple past and past participle dithered) (intransitive)

1. (literally) To tremble, shake, or shiver.
   • 1913, D H Lawrence, “chapter 8”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. , →OCLC:

     Presently he came running out of the scullery, with the soapy water dripping from him, dithering with cold.

2. (figurative) To be uncertain or unable to make a decision; to vacillate, hesitate, or delay.
   • 2012, The Economist, Sept. 22nd issue, "Indian Reform: At Last"

     The dithering Mr Singh of recent times may worry that his reform proposals are already too bold. The reforming Mr Singh of yore would see them as just the start.

3. To do something nervously.
4. (electronics, technology, signal processing) To apply an algorithm to digital data to minimize the effects of quantization:
   2. (computer graphics) To use dot patterns in an image or graphic to simulate colors or shades not in the system palette.
      • 2023, Preston "Pretzel", 4:34 from the start, in Familiar and Unfamiliar Areas in Lego Island‎:

        Look at how pixelly this wall texture is. You almost don't even notice the dithering when driving by quick. Up close though, it's real chunky.

   3. To intentionally add noise to a signal to remove artifacts caused by digitization.

• dodder

dither (countable and uncountable, plural dithers)

1. Trembling, shaking, or shivering.
2. A state of nervous excitement.
   • 2002, Thomas P. Glynn, A Child's Christmas In Chicago, page 59:

     Everyone was in a dither; either in it or about to get in it or just climbing out of it. Naturally, the Madam was not in a dither. Dither was a foreign concept to her.

3. The state of being undecided; indecision; vacillation.
4. (electronics, technology, signal processing) Any algorithm applied to digital data to minimize the effects of quantization:
   1. A form of noise intentionally added to remove artifacts caused by digitization.
   2. (computer graphics) The use of dot patterns in an image or graphic to approximate colors not available in the system palette.

• dither fish
• in a dither

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “dither”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

• drieth, rideth, thirde