Here is the definition of Peter from the Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913):
Peter Pet”er, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Petered; p. pr. & vb. n. Petering.] [Etymol. uncertain.] To become exhausted; to run out; to fail; — used generally with out; as, that mine has petered out. [Slang, U.S.]
After getting up at 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday, at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, and at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, I am, true to form, feeling “exhausted, run out and failing.”
Luckily, if I keep this up, I will wrap around and be up at 4:00 a.m. in about 2 weeks.
As a side point, I am also feeling as though my etymology is uncertain.
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Comments
Funny that the English
Funny that the English etymology of Peter should be related to tiredness and failing and the French to a rock eh?
At what point did your ancestral legacy change hands in La Manche?
Peter also is a name of an
Peter also is a name of an important part of the male anatomy in old English
I was going to say that there
I was going to say that there are many meanings to Peter. Perhaps in 1913 obsurity was the better part of politeness.
How about Petard, a bell
How about Petard, a bell shaped bomb, from the French peter, to break wind.
“Hoist by his own petard” is
“Hoist by his own petard” is to be blown up by your own gun (Will Shakepeare I think)or sunk by your own doing
I assume that the phrase
I assume that the phrase “petered out” refers to the Apostle Peter telling Jesus he would be by His side but later disappearing, just as Jesus predicted.
I’m fairly sure that the
I’m fairly sure that the phrase “peter out” comes from a leaching process once associated with saltpeter mining. To extract the saltpeter from the “peterdirt,” the miners would put it through successive leachings of clear water. For good dirt, somewhere about the sixth leaching, the saltpeter in the dirt would be pretty well all leached out (exhausted). At that point, the miners said that the dirt had “petered out.” In time the phrase spread into more general use to refer to anything or anyone who was all worn out (exhausted).
The word “saltpeter,” by the way, means “salt-rock” because of the salty taste of saltpeter. The “peter” part comes from a Greek root meaning “rock,” the same root that gives us “petrify,” “petrology,” and “Peter” (as in the Apostle). Peter’s name leant itself to the famous pun in which Jesus says that Peter is the “rock” upon which he will found his church.
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