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definitions

cotter

1
[kot-er]Machinery
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noun

a pin, wedge, key, or the like, fitted or driven into an opening to secure something or hold parts together.
cotter pin.

verb (used with object)

to secure with a cotter.

RELATED WORDS

chunk, cusp, taper, spire, quoin, cleat, lump, keystone, prong, block, shim, chock

Nearby words

  1. cottage window,
  2. cottager,
  3. cottaging,
  4. cottbus,
  5. cotte's operation,
  6. cotter pin,
  7. cotter slot,
  8. cottian alps,
  9. cottid,
  10. cottier

Origin of cotter

1
1300–50; Middle English coter; akin to late Middle English coterell iron bracket; of uncertain origin

cotter

2
[kot-er]

noun

Scot. a person occupying a plot of land and cottage, paid for in services.
cottager(def 2).

Origin of cotter

2
1175–1225; Middle English cotere < Anglo-French cot(i)er; see cot2, -er2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cotter

British Dictionary definitions for cotter

cotter

1

noun

any part, such as a pin, wedge, key, etc, that is used to secure two other parts so that relative motion between them is prevented
short for cotter pin

verb

(tr) to secure (two parts) with a cotter

Word Origin for cotter

C14: shortened from cotterel, of unknown origin

noun

Also called: cottier English history a villein in late Anglo-Saxon and early Norman times occupying a cottage and land in return for labour
Also called: cottar a peasant occupying a cottage and land in the Scottish Highlands under the same tenure as an Irish cottier
See also cottier (def. 2), cottager (def. 1)

Word Origin for cotter

C14: from Medieval Latin cotārius, from Middle English cote cot ²
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for cotter

cotter

n.

1640s, perhaps a shortened form of cotterel, a dialectal word for "cotter pin or bolt, bracket to hang a pot over a fire" (1560s), itself of uncertain origin.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper