cotter

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɒtə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

Unknown

Noun

cotter (plural cotters)

1. (mechanical engineering) A pin or wedge inserted through a slot to hold machine parts together.
   • 1949 November and December, “Notes and News: The High Level Bridge, Newcastle”, in Railway Magazine, page 407:

     The chains are secured to each end of the cast-iron arches by cotters.

2. (informal) A cotter pin.

Cotter (C on diagram)

Usage notes

The terms cotter and cotter pin are sometimes used interchangeably, although they have different functions. For a more detailed explanation see Wikipedia articles on cotter pin, cotter (pin), and split pin.

Related terms

• cotter pin

Translations

pin to hold parts together

• Bulgarian: щифт (bg) m (štift), шпонка (bg) f (šponka)
• Finnish: tappi (fi)
• Russian: клин (ru) m (klin), чека́ (ru) f (čeká), шпо́нка (ru) f (špónka), суха́рь (ru) m (suxárʹ)

cotter pin

• Finnish: sokka (fi)
• Hungarian: sasszeg (hu)

Verb

cotter (third-person singular simple present cotters, present participle cottering, simple past and past participle cottered)

1. (transitive) To fasten with a cotter.
   • 1997, Charles Frazier, chapter 2, in Cold Mountain, London: Hodder and Stoughton, page 39:

     She found Esco by the barn. He was trying to cotter a cart-wheel with a peg he had whittled from a locust branch, driving it in with a hand sledge

Etymology 2

From Middle English cotter, cotere, kottere, koter, cotier, equivalent to cot (“cottage”) +‎ -er, from Old English cot. Compare Old French coter, cotier.

Alternative forms

• cottar

Noun

cotter (plural cotters)

1. (historical) A peasant who performed labour in exchange for the right to live in a cottage.
   • 1786, Robert Burns, The Cotter's Saturday Night:

     The toil-worn Cotter frae his labour goes,— / This night his weekly moil is at an end,— / Collects his spades, his mattocks, and his hoes, […]

Synonyms

• coscet
• cottager

Translations

peasant

• Belarusian: батра́к m (batrák)
• Bulgarian: ратай (bg) m (rataj)
• Dutch: keuterboer (nl) m
• Finnish: mäkitupalainen (fi), torppari (fi)
• Russian: батра́к (ru) m (batrák)
• Ukrainian: батра́к (uk) m (batrák)