ettin
English
Etymology
From Middle English eten, etend, from Old English eoten (“giant, monster, enemy”), from Proto-Germanic *etunaz (“giant, glutton”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”). Cognate with Icelandic jötunn (“giant”), Swedish jätte (“giant”), Danish jætte (“giant”). Compare ent.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɛtɪn/
- Rhymes: -ɛtɪn, -ɛtən
Noun
ettin (plural ettins)
- (dialectal, archaic, fantasy) A giant.
- 1890, Joseph Jacobs, "The Red Ettin" in English Folk and Fairy Tales, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 3rd edition, no date, p. 138,
- He asked the wife if he might stay for the night, as he was tired with a long journey; and the wife said he might, but it was not a good place for him to be in, as it belonged to the Red Ettin, who was a very terrible beast, with three heads, that spared no living man it could get hold of.
- 1890, Joseph Jacobs, "The Red Ettin" in English Folk and Fairy Tales, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 3rd edition, no date, p. 138,
- (role-playing games) A giant with two heads.
References
- Northumberland Words – A Glossary of Words Used in the County of Northumberland and on the Tyneside -, Volume 1 by Richard Oliver Heslop, Read Books, 2008, →ISBN
- Legg, Penny "The Folklore of Hampshire" The History Press (15 Jun. 2010)
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