patter.
A soft repeated sound, as of rain falling, or feet walking on a hard surface.
Meaning & usage
A soft repeated sound, as of rain falling, or feet walking on a hard surface.
I could hear the patter of mice running about in the dark.
Where this word comes from
1610s, pat + -er (“frequentative (indicating repeated action)”), of (onomatopoeia) origin.
To make irregularly repeated sounds of low-to-moderate magnitude and lower-than-average pitch.
The bullets pattered into the log-cabin walls.
To spatter; to sprinkle.
Where this word comes from
1610s, pat + -er (“frequentative (indicating repeated action)”), of (onomatopoeia) origin.
Glib and rapid speech, such as from an auctioneer, a stage magician, a sports commentator, or a salesperson with a slick style of selling.
sales patter
Where this word comes from
Noun is from Middle English pater, verb is from Middle English pateren. Noun attested 1758, originally referring to the cant of thieves and beggars.
To speak glibly and rapidly, as does an auctioneer or a sports commentator.
To repeat the Lord's Prayer.
To pray.
To repeat hurriedly; to mutter.
Where this word comes from
Noun is from Middle English pater, verb is from Middle English pateren. Noun attested 1758, originally referring to the cant of thieves and beggars.
One who pats.
Where this word comes from
From pat + -er (“agent”).
Try it on your idea.
patter has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
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.