potter
UK /ˈpɒtə/ · US /ˈpɑtɚ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms potters pottering pottered putter pouter pooter pudder pother
- noun One who makes pots and other ceramic wares.
- noun One who places flowers or other plants inside their pots.
- noun One who pots meats or other eatables.
- noun One who hawks crockery or earthenware.
- noun The red-bellied terrapin, Pseudemys rubriventris (species of turtle).
- noun The chicken turtle, Deirochelys reticularia.
- verb (UK) To act in a vague or unmotivated way; to fuss about with unimportant things.
- verb (UK) To move slowly or aimlessly. (Often potter about, potter around.)
- verb (obsolete) To poke repeatedly.
- noun A person from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, UK
- noun (soccer) someone connected with Stoke City Football Club (in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, UK), as a fan, player, coach etc.
- proper noun An English surname originating as an occupation for a potter.
- proper noun An unincorporated community and township in Polk County, Arkansas.
- proper noun A village in Cheyenne County, Nebraska.
- proper noun A town in Yates County, New York.
- proper noun A township in Barnes County, North Dakota.
- proper noun Two townships in Pennsylvania, in Beaver County and Centre County.
- proper noun A village in Calumet County, Wisconsin.
Synonyms
ceramicist northern red-bellied cooter thrower ceramist putter mess around tinker monkey monkey around muck about muck around potter around putter around
Etymology
From Middle English pottere, from Old English pottere (“potter”, in placenames), from Proto-West Germanic *pottārī (“pot-maker”), equivalent to pot + -er. Influenced by Anglo-Norman poter, Old French potier (“potter”). Cognate with Dutch potter (“potter”), German Low German Pötter, Pütter (“potter”). Displaced Old English synonyms lāmwyrhta (“a worker in clay, potter”, literally “loam-worker”), tiġelwyrhta (“brickmaker, potter”, literally “tile-worker”), crocwyrhta (“crocker, potter”, literally “crock-worker”).
Frequentative of pote, equivalent to pote + -er. Cognate with Dutch poteren, peuteren (“to poke, pry, search”).
From Middle English Potter, English, Dutch, and north German surname, from the noun pot.
The usage for someone from Stoke-on-Trent refers to it being the home of the pottery industry in England, where it is also known as The Potteries.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One whose occupation is to make earthen vessels. Ps. ii. 9.
- noun One who hawks crockery or earthenware. [Prov. Eng.] De Quincey.
- verb To busy one's self with trifles; to labor with little purpose, energy, of effect; to trifle; to pother.
- verb To walk lazily or idly; to saunter.
Etymology [Cf. F. potier.]
Etymology [Cf. W. pwtio to poke, or OD. poteren to search one thoroughly, Sw. påta, peta, to pick, E. pother, put.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “potter”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details