Wordwyrt

squatter

/ˈskwɒtə/SKWAH-tur
/ˈskwɑtɚ/SKWAH-tur

Meaningone who squats

Common meaning: someone living on land without right

Journey through time

  1. Old Frenchesquatir‘to flatten, crush’source
  2. Middle Englishsquatten‘crouch or press down’source
  3. Englishsquat‘crouch low with knees bent’
  4. Englishformed in English from squatsquatter‘someone living on land without right’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from squat + -er.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), SQUAT, p.587 · scan

Source words

  • esquatir Old French · source word “to flatten, crush”

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