dither.
To tremble, shake, or shiver.
Meaning & usage
To tremble, shake, or shiver.
To be uncertain or unable to make a decision; to vacillate, hesitate, or delay.
To do something nervously.
To apply an algorithm to digital data to minimize the effects of quantization: To use dot patterns in an image or graphic to simulate colors or shades not in the system palette.
To apply an algorithm to digital data to minimize the effects of quantization: To intentionally add noise to a signal to remove artifacts caused by digitization.
Where this word comes from
Variant of didder, from Middle English dideren (“to tremble”). Compare Middle English bididren, bididdren (“to seduce, deceive”), from Old English bedidrian, bedyderian (“to deceive, trick”). Alternatively, perhaps with expressive voicing from *titeren, from Proto-Germanic *titrōną. If so, then a doublet of teeter and cognate with Old High German zittarōn (German zittern) and Old Norse titra (Faroese titra, Icelandic titra). Alternatively an unrelated reduplicative onomatopoeia.
Trembling, shaking, or shivering.
A state of nervous excitement.
The state of being undecided; indecision; vacillation.
Any algorithm applied to digital data to minimize the effects of quantization: A form of noise intentionally added to remove artifacts caused by digitization.
Any algorithm applied to digital data to minimize the effects of quantization: The use of dot patterns in an image or graphic to approximate colors not available in the system palette.
Where this word comes from
Variant of didder, from Middle English dideren (“to tremble”). Compare Middle English bididren, bididdren (“to seduce, deceive”), from Old English bedidrian, bedyderian (“to deceive, trick”). Alternatively, perhaps with expressive voicing from *titeren, from Proto-Germanic *titrōną. If so, then a doublet of teeter and cognate with Old High German zittarōn (German zittern) and Old Norse titra (Faroese titra, Icelandic titra). Alternatively an unrelated reduplicative onomatopoeia.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.