different between faulter vs falter

English

Etymology 1

fault +? -er

Noun

faulter (plural faulters)

1. (obsolete) One who commits a fault.

   • Behold the faulter here in sight.

Etymology 2

Verb

faulter (third-person singular simple present faulters, present participle faultering, simple past and past participle faultered)

1. Archaic spelling of falter.
   • 1818, John Keats, Endymion:

     The penitent shower fell, as down he knelt
     Before that care-worn sage, who trembling felt
     About his large dark locks, and faultering spake:
     Arise, good youth, for sacred Phoebus’ sake!

   • 1820, Charles Maturin, Melmoth the Wanderer, volume 1, page 176:

     “You know all, then?”—“I know nothing,” said Melmoth faultering.

Anagrams

• refutal, tearful

English

Alternative forms

• faulter (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English falteren (“to stagger”), further origin unknown. Possibly from a North Germanic source such as Old Norse faltrask (“be encumbered”). May also be a frequentative of fold, although the change from d to t is unusual.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?f??lt?(r)/, /?f?lt?(r)/

Noun

falter

1. unsteadiness.

Translations

Verb

falter (third-person singular simple present falters, present participle faltering, simple past and past participle faltered)

1. To waver or be unsteady; to weaken or trail off.
   • 1672, Richard Wiseman, A Treatise of Wounds

     He found his legs falter.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To stammer; to utter with hesitation, or in a weak and trembling manner.
   • 1807, Lord Byron, Childish Recollections

     And here he faltered forth his last farewell.
3. To fail in distinctness or regularity of exercise; said of the mind or of thought.
   • 1832, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening

     Here indeed the power of distinctly conceiving of space and distance falters.

4. To stumble.
5. (figuratively) To lose faith or vigor; to doubt or abandon (a cause).

   • And remember, comrades, your resolution must never falter.

6. To hesitate in purpose or action.
7. To cleanse or sift, as barley.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Translations

References