Scatter

How to spell scatter

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce scatter

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does scatter mean?

1. verbTo throw or spread things loosely over an area, or to move suddenly in different directions.
2. nounA small, loose grouping of things spread over an area.

Scatter in a sentence

• verb

  The gardener likes to scatter wildflower seeds across the bank in spring.

• noun

  A light scatter of rain is forecast for the afternoon.

• verb

  A loud bang can scatter the pigeons from the square in seconds.

• noun

  Only a thin scatter of guests remained after midnight.

Where does scatter come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Scatter first appears in Middle English around the year 1200, and it is generally treated as a northern dialect variant of the word shatter, the two having branched apart from a common base. The shared idea is of something flying suddenly into many separate pieces or directions. The root is most likely Germanic, related to a word group meaning to break apart or burst, although the trail backward is faint enough that scholars hedge their claims. Over time scatter settled into the gentler, broader sense of throwing or spreading things loosely about, while shatter kept the harder meaning of smashing. The doubled t reflects the short, sharp vowel before it, and remembering the link to shatter is a handy way to fix that spelling in mind.

How the word is built

• scatt- (to disperse, a variant of shatter)
• -er (frequentative verb suffix)