peter
English · Français · Deutsch · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
Peter¹
- /ˈpiːtə/ Australia, New Zealand, UK
- /ˈpitɚ/ Canada, US
- [ˈpʰitɚ] Canada, US
- [ˈpʰiɾɚ] Canada, US
Sounds like PETA, pita (Received Pronunciation), peter, ptr · Rhymes with -iːtə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
From Middle English Peter, from Old English Petrus, from Latin Petrus, from Ancient Greek Πέτρος (Pétros), from πέτρος (pétros, “stone, rock”). Doublet of Pedro, Piers, and Boutros.
noun
-
radiotelephony clear-code word for the letter P.
Similar: Papa
proper noun Peters
- A male given name from Ancient Greek. She knew of no Peter, and yet he was here and there in John and Michael's minds, while Wendy's began to be scrawled all over with him. The name stood out in bolder letters than any of the other words, and as Mrs Darling gazed she felt that it had an oddly cocky appearance.
- The leading Apostle in the New Testament: Saint Peter.
-
The epistles of Peter in the New Testament of the Bible, 1 Peter and 2 Peter attributed to St. Peter.
Similar: Pet.
- A surname originating as a patronymic.
-
A census-designated place in Cache County, Utah, United States, named after Peter Maughan.
Similar: Petersboro
peter²
- /ˈpiːtə/ UK
- /ˈpitɚ/ US
Sounds like Peter, pita (non-rhotic), ptr · Rhymes with -iːtə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
US, 1902, presumably from shared initial pe-. Compare the use of other men’s names as slang terms for the penis, e.g., dick, willy, johnson, John Thomas, etc.
noun peters
- The penis. You smile, act polite, shake their hands, then cut off their peters and put them in your pocket.” “Yes, Mr. President,” answered O'Brien.
peter³
- /ˈpiːtə/ UK
- /ˈpitɚ/ US
Sounds like Peter, pita (non-rhotic), ptr · Rhymes with -iːtə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
Unknown. Attested from the 18th century. The Canting Academy defines peeter as “A portmantle”; Green’s Dictionary of Slang list a variety of uses for peter – including trunk or portmanteau – in thieves’ cant in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. The OED suggests that it may be related to St. Peter being the holder of the keys to God's Kingdom.
noun peters
-
A safe.
It used to be simple to 'crack a peter'. Safe-breaking (blowing or cracking a 'peter') in the past three or four years shows that the expert cracksman knows his job.
Similar: pete
- A prison cell. […] the ceremony of 'slopping out', breakfast, across to the main library from nine till half-past eleven, back to my peter for the mid-day meal and two hours' break, then the library again till five o'clock when tea was brought round and the cell door locked for the night.
peter⁴
- /ˈpiːtə/ UK
- /ˈpitɚ/ US
Sounds like Peter, pita (non-rhotic), ptr · Rhymes with -iːtə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
* From peter (“to stop (doing or saying something)”) (slang, obsolete, rare).
* Since the word was first used in mining contexts, either:
** from French péter (“to explode; to break wind, fart”) (slang), from pet (“emission of digestive gases from the anus, flatus, fart”) (slang), from Latin pēditum (“flatus, fart”), from pēdō (“to break wind, fart”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pesd- (“to break wind softly”), probably imitative; or
** from (salt)peter, a variant of saltpetre (“potassium nitrate”) (the key ingredient in gunpowder), from Middle English salpeter, salpetre [and other forms] with the first element influenced by salt, from Old French salpetre (modern French salpêtre), from Medieval Latin salpetra, from Latin sāl petrae (literally “salt of stone”) (as potassium nitrate occurs encrusted on some stones), from sāl (“salt”) + petrae (the nominative or vocative plural of petra (“rock; stone”), from Ancient Greek πέτρᾱ (pétrā, “rock formation; stone”)).
verb peters · petering · petered
- Chiefly followed by out: originally (mining), of a vein of ore: to be depleted of ore; now (generally), to diminish to nothing; to dwindle, to trail off. I found a veinlet about 15 in. wide and very rich in gold. Trenching along its outcrop showed that it extended about 100 ft. and then pinched out altogether. A winze sunk on the veinlet showed that it "petered out" entirely at 25 or 30 ft.
peter⁵
- /ˈpiːtə/ UK
- /ˈpitɚ/ US
Sounds like Peter, pita (non-rhotic), ptr · Rhymes with -iːtə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
Clipping of blue peter (“play a high card to call for trump”). See further etymology there.
verb peters · petering · petered
-
Synonym of blue peter; to call for trump by throwing away a high card while holding a lower one.
Similar: blue peter
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: dick, cock, prick, tool, pecker, shaft, saint peter, st peter, pierre, françois, pyotr, rolf, robert, petey, pete, yiu
Translations
Every language
name male given name
| Español | Pedro |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 피터 piteo |
| 日本語 | ピーター Pītā |
| 中文 | 彼得 Bǐdé |
| हिन्दी | पीटर pīṭar |
| Kiswahili | Petro |
| Português | Pedro |
| Français | Pierre |
| Deutsch | Peter, Per |
| Italiano | Pietro, Piero |
| Ελληνικά | Πέτρος Pétros, Παναγιώτης Panagiótis, Πήτερ Píter, Πίτερ Píter |
| Română | Petru, Petre |
| Русский | Пётр Pjotr, Пи́тер Píter |
| Tiếng Việt | Phêrô |
| العربية | بُطْرُس buṭrus, بِيتَر bītar |
| עברית | פֶּטֶר Péter |
name the Apostle
| Español | Pedro |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 베드로 Bedeuro |
| 日本語 | ペトロ Petoro, ペテロ Petero, ペトロス Petorosu |
| 中文 | 彼得 Bǐdé, 裴特若 Péitèruò |
| हिन्दी | पतरस patras |
| Kiswahili | Petro |
| Português | Pedro |
| Français | Pierre |
| Deutsch | Petrus |
| Italiano | Pietro |
| Ελληνικά | Πέτρος Pétros |
| Română | Petru |
| Русский | Пётр Pjotr |
| العربية | بُطْرُس buṭrus |
| עברית | פטרוס |
Talk about this word "peter." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/peter. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. peter. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/peter "peter." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/peter.Cite this
@misc{peter_2026,
title = {peter},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/peter},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
