twitter

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See also: Twitter

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English twitren, twiteren, from Old English *twiterian, from Proto-West Germanic *twitwiʀōn, from Proto-Germanic *twitwizōną (“to chirp; twitter”).[1] Cognate with Low German twitteren (“to twitter”), German zwitzern, zwitschern (“to twitter”). Compare also Dutch kwetteren (“to twitter”), Danish kvidre (“to twitter”), Swedish kvittra (“to twitter”), dialectal Swedish tittra (“to twitter”).

Noun

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twitter (countable and uncountable, plural twitters)

  1. (uncountable) The sound of a succession of chirps as uttered by birds.
    I often listen to the twitter of the birds in the park.
  2. (uncountable, electronics) Unwanted flicker that occurs in interlaced displays when the image contains vertical detail that approaches the horizontal resolution of the video format.
    • 1986, Second International Conference on Simulators: 7-11 September 1986, IEEE, page 145:
      Interline twitter occurs on interlaced displays at half the field-rate.
  3. (countable) A tremulous broken sound.
  4. (countable) A slight trembling of the nerves.
  5. (countable, informal or British, regional) Chiefly in the form in a twitter: a state of excitement or nervousness; a twit.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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twitter (third-person singular simple present twitters, present participle twittering, simple past and past participle twittered)

  1. (intransitive) To utter a succession of chirps.
  2. (intransitive, transitive) (of a person) To talk in an excited or nervous manner.
  3. To make the sound of a half-suppressed laugh; to titter; to giggle.
  4. To have a slight trembling of the nerves; to be excited or agitated.
  5. (obsolete, transitive) To twit; to reproach or upbraid.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
      I have repented of it many’s the good time and oft. And if he was so good to forgive me a word spoken in haste or so, it doth not become such a one as you to twitter me. He was a husband to me, he was; and if ever I did make use of an ill word or so in a passion, I never called him rascal […]
  6. Alternative form of Twitter
    Synonym: tweet
    • 2009 March 2, Michelle Levi, “McCain Criticizes Obama On The Senate Floor”, in CBS News‎[1], retrieved 2 March 2009:
      In addition to listing specific earmarks he finds the most reprehensible, McCain said he has been twittering the “top ten” most egregious
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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Origin unknown; possibly related to twine, twist, and twirl.[2]

Noun

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twitter (plural twitters)

  1. (Northern England, Scotland, weaving, archaic) A knot or other defect in a thread or yarn which hinders spinning or weaving; a twit.
Translations
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References

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  1. ^ “twitter, v. and n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “twitter, n.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023.

French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From English Twitter.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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twitter

  1. (transitive, intransitive, Internet) to tweet (to post to Twitter)

Conjugation

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Conjugation of twitter (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple twitter
compound avoir past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple twittant
/twi.tɑ̃/
compound ayant past participle
past participle twitté
/twi.te/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present twitte
/twit/ 		twittes
/twit/ 		twitte
/twit/ 		twittons
/twi.tɔ̃/ 		twittez
/twi.te/ 		twittent
/twit/
imperfect twittais
/twi.tɛ/ 		twittais
/twi.tɛ/ 		twittait
/twi.tɛ/ 		twittions
/twi.tjɔ̃/ 		twittiez
/twi.tje/ 		twittaient
/twi.tɛ/
past historic2 twittai
/twi.te/ 		twittas
/twi.ta/ 		twitta
/twi.ta/ 		twittâmes
/twi.tam/ 		twittâtes
/twi.tat/ 		twittèrent
/twi.tɛʁ/
future twitterai
/twi.tʁe/ 		twitteras
/twi.tʁa/ 		twittera
/twi.tʁa/ 		twitterons
/twi.tʁɔ̃/ 		twitterez
/twi.tʁe/ 		twitteront
/twi.tʁɔ̃/
conditional twitterais
/twi.tʁɛ/ 		twitterais
/twi.tʁɛ/ 		twitterait
/twi.tʁɛ/ 		twitterions
/twi.tə.ʁjɔ̃/ 		twitteriez
/twi.tə.ʁje/ 		twitteraient
/twi.tʁɛ/
(compound
tenses) 		present perfect present indicative of avoir past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir past participle
future perfect future of avoir past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses) 		present twitte
/twit/ 		twittes
/twit/ 		twitte
/twit/ 		twittions
/twi.tjɔ̃/ 		twittiez
/twi.tje/ 		twittent
/twit/
imperfect2 twittasse
/twi.tas/ 		twittasses
/twi.tas/ 		twittât
/twi.ta/ 		twittassions
/twi.ta.sjɔ̃/ 		twittassiez
/twi.ta.sje/ 		twittassent
/twi.tas/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — twitte
/twit/ 		— twittons
/twi.tɔ̃/ 		twittez
/twi.te/ 		—
compound — simple imperative of avoir past participle — simple imperative of avoir past participle simple imperative of avoir past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

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