titubate

English

Etymology

From Latin titubatus, past participle of titubare (“to stagger, totter”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɪtjʊbeɪt/

Verb

titubate (third-person singular simple present titubates, present participle titubating, simple past and past participle titubated)

1. (obsolete) To stagger
2. (obsolete) To rock or roll, like a curved body on a plane.
3. To stutter, stammer.
   • 1993, Anthony Burgess, A Dead Man in Deptford:

     They must let us alone here, we govern ourselves, we are by way of being totally autonomous. (The plethora of t’s there made his tongue titubate, but it was a brave show.)

Related terms

• titubation

Translations

to stagger

• Bulgarian: залитам (bg) (zalitam)
• Catalan: titubar (ca), titubejar (ca)
• Finnish: horjua (fi)

to stutter

• Bulgarian: заеквам (bg) (zaekvam)
• Catalan: titubar (ca), titubejar (ca)
• Finnish: änkyttää (fi)

Further reading

• “titubate”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

titubate

1. inflection of titubare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

titubate f pl

1. feminine plural of titubato

Anagrams

• buttiate

Latin

Verb

titubāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of titubō

Spanish

Verb

titubate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of titubar combined with te