Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Peter

Pe′ter

(pē′tẽr)
,
p
rop.
Noun.
A common baptismal name for a man. The name of one of the twelve apostles of Christ.
Peter boat
,
a fishing boat, sharp at both ends, originally of the Baltic Sea, but now common in certain English rivers.
–
Peter Funk
,
the auctioneer in a mock auction.
[Cant, U.S.]
–
Peter pence
, or
Peter’s pence
.
(a)
An annual tax or tribute, formerly paid by the English people to the pope, being a penny for every house, payable on Lammas or St. Peter's day; – called also
Rome scot
, and
hearth money
.
(b)
In modern times, a voluntary contribution made by Roman Catholics to the private purse of the pope.
–
Peter's fish
(Zool.)
,
a haddock; – so called because the black spots, one on each side, behind the gills, are traditionally said to have been caused by the fingers of St. Peter, when he caught the fish to pay the tribute. The name is applied, also, to other fishes having similar spots.

Pet′er

(pē′tẽr)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Petered
(pē′tẽrd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Petering
.]
[Etymol. uncertain.]
To become depleted; to run out; to fail; – used generally with
out
;
as, that mine has
petered
out
.
[Slang, U.S.]

Webster 1828 Edition

Peter

PETER

Definition 2024

Peter

Peter

See also: peter, Péter, and péter

English

Proper noun

Peter

Peter on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Peter on Wikisource.Wikisource
Wiktionary has an Appendix listing books of the Bible

  1. A male given name.
    • 1911 J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan, Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1993, Chapter I
      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.
    • 1933 Eleanor Farjeon, Over the Garden Wall,Faber and Faber 1933, page 90 ("Boys' Names")
      What splendid names for boys there are! / There's Carol like a rolling car, / And Martin like a flying bird, / And Adam like the Lord's First Word, / And Raymond like the Harvest Moon, / And Peter like a piper's tune,
  2. The leading Apostle in the New Testament.
    • 1611, Bible (KJV), Matthew 16:18:
      And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church;
  3. (biblical) The epistles of Peter in the New Testament of the Bible, 1 Peter and 2 Peter attributed to St. Peter.
  4. (rare compared to given name) A patronymic surname​.

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: Michael · fee · excellent · #998: Peter · instant · promised · anxious

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse Pétr, from Latin Petrus, from Ancient Greek Πέτρος ‎(Pétros), from πέτρος ‎(pétros, “stone, rock”), related to πέτρα ‎(pétra). Later reinforced by the German Peter.

Pronunciation

  • (stressed) IPA(key): /ˈpeːˀtər/, [ˈpʰeːˀd̥ɐ]
  • (unstressed) IPA(key): /petər/, [pʰed̥ɐ]

Proper noun

Peter

  1. A male given name.
  2. Peter (biblical figure).
    • Og jeg siger dig, at du er Peter, og på den klippe vil jeg bygge min kirke, --- Bibelen, Matthæus 16:18 (1992 transl.)

Related terms

References

  • Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 150 294 males with the given name Peter have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with frequency peaks in the 19th century and in the 1960s. Accessed on 19 May, 2011.

Dutch

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Peter ?

  1. A male given name, cognate to Peter.

Related terms

Anagrams

German

Etymology

From Latin Petrus, from Ancient Greek Πέτρος ‎(Pétros), from πέτρος ‎(pétros, “stone, rock”), related to πέτρα ‎(pétra)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpeːtɐ/

Proper noun

Peter m ‎(genitive Peters)

  1. A male given name.

Related terms

Norwegian

Etymology

From Old Norse Pétr, from Latin Petrus, from Ancient Greek Πέτρος ‎(Pétros), from πέτρος ‎(pétros, “stone, rock”), related to πέτρα ‎(pétra). Later reinforced by the German Peter.

Proper noun

Peter

  1. A male given name.
  2. Peter (biblical figure)
Og det sier jeg deg: Du er Peter; på denne klippe vil jeg bygge min kirke. Bibelen, Matteus 16:18 (1985 transl.)

Related terms

References

  • Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, ISBN 82-521-4483-7
  • Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 4 327 males with the given name Peter (compared to 10 139 named Petter) living in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 19th century. Accessed on 19 May, 2011.

Slovak

Proper noun

Peter m ‎(genitive Petra, nominative plural Petrovia) declension pattern chlap

  1. A male given name, cognate to Peter.

Slovene

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpèːtər/
  • Tonal orthography: pẹ́tər

Proper noun

Péter m anim ‎(genitive Pétra)

  1. A male given name, cognate to Peter.

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse Pétr, from Latin Petrus, from Ancient Greek Πέτρος ‎(Pétros), from πέτρος ‎(pétros, “stone, rock”), related to πέτρα ‎(pétra). Later reinforced by the German Peter.

Proper noun

Peter

  1. A male given name.

Related terms

References

  • Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, ISBN 91-21-10937-0
  • Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, ISBN 9119551622:112 253 males with the given name Peter living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1960s. Accessed on May 19th, 2011.

peter

peter

See also: Peter, péter, and Péter

English

Noun

peter ‎(plural peters)

  1. (slang) The ****.
Translations

Etymology 2

1812, US miners’ slang, Unknown.[1] Various speculative etymologies have been suggested.[2][3][4][5] One suggestion is that it comes from peter being an abbreviation of saltpeter, the key ingredient in gunpowder – when a mine was exhausted, it was “petered”. Other derivations are from St. Peter (from sense of “rock”), or French péter ‎(“to fart”).

Verb

peter ‎(third-person singular simple present peters, present participle petering, simple past and past participle petered)

  1. (most often used in the phrase peter out) To dwindle; to trail off; to diminish to nothing.
    • 2014 August 23, Neil Hegarty, “Hidden City: Adventures and Explorations in Dublin by Karl Whitney, review: 'a necessary corrective' [print version: Re-Joycing in Dublin, p. R25]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):
      Whitney is absorbed especially by Dublin's unglamorous interstitial zones: the new housing estates and labyrinths of roads, watercourses and railways where the city peters into its commuter belt.
Usage notes

Originally used independently, today most often used in the derived phrase peter out.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 “peter” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
  2. ↑ “peter out”, The Phrase Finder, Gary Martin.
  3. ↑ ami: origin of “peter out”
  4. ↑ Take Our Word For It #117
  5. ↑ A Hog On Ice & Other Curious Expressions, Charles Funk, 1948.

Etymology

From medieval Petre, from Latin Petrus, from Ancient Greek Πέτρος ‎(Pétros), from πέτρος ‎(pétros, “stone, rock”), related to πέτρα ‎(pétra)

Pronunciation

Similar Results