fetter.
A chain or similar object used to bind a person or animal, often by its legs.
Meaning & usage
A chain or similar object used to bind a person or animal, often by its legs.
Anything that restricts or restrains.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English feter, from Old English feter, Proto-West Germanic *fetur, from Proto-Germanic *feturaz (“fetter”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step, walk; to fall, stumble”). Related to foot. Cognates Cognate with Dutch veter (“cable, chain, hawser; bond, fetter”), Faroese fjøtur (“fetter”), Icelandic fjötur (“fetter”), Swedish fjätter (“fetter, shackle”); also Irish feadh (“extent, length”), feá (“fathom”), Scottish Gaelic feadh (“extent, length; fathom”), Latgalian pāda (“foot”), Latvian pēda (“foot”), Lithuanian pėda (“foot”), Belarusian па́даць (pádacʹ, “to fall”), Bulgarian па́дам (pádam, “to grop, fall”), Czech padat (“to fall”), Polish padać (“to fall”), Russian па́дать (pádatʹ, “to fall”), Serbo-Croatian padati, падати (“to fall”), Slovene padati (“to fall”), Ukrainian па́дати (pádaty, “to fall”), Latin peior, pejor (“worse”), Ancient Greek πέδη (pédē, “fetter, shackle; anklet, bangle”), Armenian ետ (et, “back, backward”), հետ (het, “back; with”), Ossetian фестӕг (festæg), фистӕг (fistæg, “pedestrian”), Old Persian 𐎱𐎿𐎫𐎡 (p-s-t-i, “foot soldier, infantryman”), Sanskrit पद्यते (padyate, “to fall, topple; to perish”), Hittite 𒁉𒂊𒁕𒀭 (“place; floor, ground”).
To shackle or bind up with fetters.
To restrain or impede; to hamper.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English feter, from Old English feter, Proto-West Germanic *fetur, from Proto-Germanic *feturaz (“fetter”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step, walk; to fall, stumble”). Related to foot. Cognates Cognate with Dutch veter (“cable, chain, hawser; bond, fetter”), Faroese fjøtur (“fetter”), Icelandic fjötur (“fetter”), Swedish fjätter (“fetter, shackle”); also Irish feadh (“extent, length”), feá (“fathom”), Scottish Gaelic feadh (“extent, length; fathom”), Latgalian pāda (“foot”), Latvian pēda (“foot”), Lithuanian pėda (“foot”), Belarusian па́даць (pádacʹ, “to fall”), Bulgarian па́дам (pádam, “to grop, fall”), Czech padat (“to fall”), Polish padać (“to fall”), Russian па́дать (pádatʹ, “to fall”), Serbo-Croatian padati, падати (“to fall”), Slovene padati (“to fall”), Ukrainian па́дати (pádaty, “to fall”), Latin peior, pejor (“worse”), Ancient Greek πέδη (pédē, “fetter, shackle; anklet, bangle”), Armenian ետ (et, “back, backward”), հետ (het, “back; with”), Ossetian фестӕг (festæg), фистӕг (fistæg, “pedestrian”), Old Persian 𐎱𐎿𐎫𐎡 (p-s-t-i, “foot soldier, infantryman”), Sanskrit पद्यते (padyate, “to fall, topple; to perish”), Hittite 𒁉𒂊𒁕𒀭 (“place; floor, ground”).
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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.