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otter

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otter¹

  • /ˈɒtə/ Northern England, UK
  • /ˈɔtə/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈɔtəɾ/ Scotland, UK
  • /ˈɑtɚ/ US
  • [(ʔ)ɑɾɚ] US
  • /ˈɔtə/ Australia
  • [ˈɔɾə] Australia
  • /ˈɒtə/ New Zealand
  • [ˈɔ̟ɾə] ~ [ˈɞ̠ɾə] New Zealand

Sounds like odder (US) · Rhymes with -ɒtə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From Middle English oter, otir, otur, otyre, from Old English otor, from Proto-West Germanic *otr, from Proto-Germanic *utraz, from Proto-Indo-European *udrós (“aquatic, water-animal”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water”).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian Otter, Dutch otter, German Otter, Swedish utter, Norwegian oter, Icelandic otur, Sanskrit उद्र (udrá), Russian вы́дра (výdra), and Ancient Greek ὕδρα (húdra, “water snake”). Doublet of Hydra and hydra. More etymology under English water.

noun otters · otter

  1. countable, uncountable An aquatic or marine carnivorous mammal in the subfamily Lutrinae.
  2. uncountable The flesh or fur of this animal 'The Aleuts come from a country far to the north,' he said. 'Their ways are not ours nor is their language. They have come to take otter and to give us our share in many goods which they have and which we can use.
  3. countable, slang, uncountable A hairy man with a slender physique, in contrast with a bear, who is more thickset.

otter²

  • /ˈɒtə/ Northern England, UK
  • /ˈɔtə/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈɔtəɾ/ Scotland, UK
  • /ˈɑtɚ/ US
  • [(ʔ)ɑɾɚ] US
  • /ˈɔtə/ Australia
  • [ˈɔɾə] Australia
  • /ˈɒtə/ New Zealand
  • [ˈɔ̟ɾə] ~ [ˈɞ̠ɾə] New Zealand

Sounds like odder (US) · Rhymes with -ɒtə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Corruption of annotto.

noun

  1. obsolete, uncountable annatto (dye)

otter³

  • /ˈɒtə/ Northern England, UK
  • /ˈɔtə/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈɔtəɾ/ Scotland, UK
  • /ˈɑtɚ/ US
  • [(ʔ)ɑɾɚ] US
  • /ˈɔtə/ Australia
  • [ˈɔɾə] Australia
  • /ˈɒtə/ New Zealand
  • [ˈɔ̟ɾə] ~ [ˈɞ̠ɾə] New Zealand

Sounds like odder (US) · Rhymes with -ɒtə(ɹ)

noun

  1. archaic, uncountable Archaic form of attar […] the precious perfume called otter of roses.

Otter⁴

  • /ˈɒtə/ Northern England, UK
  • /ˈɔtə/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈɔtəɾ/ Scotland, UK
  • /ˈɑtɚ/ US
  • [(ʔ)ɑɾɚ] US
  • /ˈɔtə/ Australia
  • [ˈɔɾə] Australia
  • /ˈɒtə/ New Zealand
  • [ˈɔ̟ɾə] ~ [ˈɞ̠ɾə] New Zealand

Sounds like otter, odder (US) · Rhymes with -ɒtə(ɹ)

proper noun

  1. A river with its source in the Blackdown Hills, Somerset, and which flows through Devon, to Lyme Bay in the English Channel.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: trawl, clawless, trawls, mustelid, musteloid, european otter, polecat, river otter, lutrine, ferret, weasel, otter shrew, badger, short-tailed weasel, mink, european polecat

Translations

Every language

noun mammal

Españolnutria, lutria, nutra, ludria
한국어수달 sudal
日本語獺 kawauso, 川獺 kawauso, カワウソ kawauso, 海獺 rakko, ラッコ rakko
中文水獺 /水獭 shuǐtǎ
हिन्दीऊदबिलाव ūdbilāv, ऊद ūd
Kiswahiliota
Portuguêslontra
Françaisloutre
DeutschOtter
Italianolontra
Ελληνικάβίδρα vídra
Românălutră, vidră
Русскийвы́дра výdra
Tiếng Việtrái cá, rái
العربيةقُضَاعَة quḍāʕa, ثَعْلَب الْمَاء ṯaʕlab al-māʔ
עבריתלוּטְרָה lútra, כֶּלֶב נָהָר kélev nahar

noun slender hairy man

日本語熊 kuma
Françaisloutre

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Cite this
MLA

"otter." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/otter. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

otter. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/otter

Chicago

"otter." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/otter.

BibTeX
@misc{otter_2026,
  title = {otter},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/otter},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}