fetter

Pronunciation: /ˈfet.ə/

The English word “fetter” has 4 meanings listed here.

noun

A chain or similar object used to bind a person or animal, often by its legs.
Anything that restricts or restrains.

verb

To shackle or bind up with fetters.
To restrain or impede; to hamper.

Etymology

From Middle English feter, from Old English feter, Proto-West Germanic *fetur, from Proto-Germanic *feturaz (“fetter”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step, walk; to fall, stumble”). Related to foot. Cognates Cognate with Dutch veter (“cable, chain, hawser; bond, fetter”), Faroese fjøtur (“fetter”), Icelandic fjötur (“fetter”), Swedish fjätter (“fetter, shackle”); also Irish feadh (“extent,…

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