halter

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

halter

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔltɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔːltə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːltə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

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

• helter (obsolete, Northern England)

Noun

halter (plural halters)

1. A bitless headpiece of rope or straps, placed on the head of animals such as cattle or horses to lead or tie them.
2. 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 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. […].”

3. A halter top.

Synonyms

• headstall
• headpiece
• headcollar (British)

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

halter (third-person singular simple present halters, present participle haltering, simple past and past participle haltered)

1. (transitive) To place a halter on.

   What do you mean, you didn't halter the horses when we stopped for the night?

Etymology 2

halt +‎ -er

Noun

halter (plural halters)

1. One who halts or limps; a cripple.

Etymology 3

Noun

halter (plural halteres)

1. Alternative form of haltere

Anagrams

• Hartel, Hartle, Thrale, lather, rathel, thaler

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἁλτῆρες (haltêres).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Noun

halter m (plural halters)

1. dumbbell

Further reading

• “halter” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French haltère or directly from Latin haltēres, from Ancient Greek ἁλτῆρες (haltêres).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɦɑl.tər/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hal‧ter

Noun

halter m (plural halters, diminutive haltertje n)

1. A dumbbell or barbell.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• helter, heltre, heltere, helfter, heltyr, haltre, haltur, heltrer

Etymology

Inherited from Old English hælftre, hælfter, from Proto-West Germanic *halftrijā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaltər/, /ˈhɛltər/, /ˈhaltrə/

Noun

halter (plural haltres)

1. A halter; horse headgear lacking a bit.
2. (rare) A rope tied in a noose for hanging.
3. (rare) The binding contract of marriage.

Descendants

• English: halter
• Scots: helter, heltir, hilter

References

• “halter, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-06.

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

halter

1. present tense of halte

Portuguese

Noun

halter m (plural halteres)

1. Alternative form of haltere

Swedish

Noun

halter

1. indefinite plural of halt