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fetter - 5 dictionary results

fet⋅ter

  [fet-er]
Use fetter in a Sentence
–noun
1. a chain or shackle placed on the feet.
2. Usually, fetters. anything that confines or restrains: Boredom puts fetters upon the imagination.
–verb (used with object)
3. to put fetters upon.
4. to confine; restrain.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME, OE feter; c. OHG fezzera, ON fjǫturr; akin to foot

Related forms:
fet⋅ter⋅er, noun
fet⋅ter⋅less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To fetter
fet·ter   (fět'ər)   
n.  
  1. A chain or shackle for the ankles or feet.
  2. Something that serves to restrict; a restraint.
tr.v.   fet·tered, fet·ter·ing, fet·ters
  1. To put fetters on; shackle.
  2. To restrict the freedom of. See Synonyms at hamper1.

[Middle English feter, from Old English; see ped- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Fetter

Fet"ter\, n. [AS. fetor, feter; akin to OS. feter?s, pl., OD. veter, OHG. fezzera, Icel. fj["o]turr, L. pedi?a, Gr. ?, and to E. foot. [root] 77. See Foot.] [Chiefly used in the plural, fetters.]

1. A chain or shackle for the feet; a chain by which an animal is confined by the foot, either made fast or disabled from free and rapid motion; a bond; a shackle.

[They] bound him with fetters of brass. --Judg. xvi. 21.

2. Anything that confines or restrains; a restraint.

Passion's too fierce to be in fetters bound. --Dryden.

Fetter

Fet"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fettered; p. pr. & vb. n. Fettering.]

1. To put fetters upon; to shackle or confine the feet of with a chain; to bind.

My heels are fettered, but my fist is free. --Milton.

2. To restrain from motion; to impose restraints on; to confine; to enchain; as, fettered by obligations.

My conscience! thou art fettered More than my shanks and wrists. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : fetter
Spanish: cadenas, grilletes,
German: die Fessel,
Japanese: 足かせ
More Translations »

fetter  (n.)
O.E. feter "chain or shackle for the feet," from P.Gmc. *fetero (cf. Du. veter, O.H.G. fezzera, O.N. fioturr), from PIE root *ped- "foot" (see foot). The generalized sense of "anything that shackles" had evolved in O.E. The verb is first recorded c.1300.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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