saeter

See also: sæter

English

WOTD – 4 April 2021

Etymology

A saeter (sense 1) in Gudbrandsdalen, Innlandet, Norway, situated above the tree line in the mountains and used for summer pasture.

Borrowed from:

• Norwegian Nynorsk sæter (obsolete spelling), seter, and Norwegian Bokmål seter, from Old Norse sætr, setr (“dairy lands, mountain pastures; residence, seat; setting (of the sun)”); and
• Swedish säter (“mountain pastures”);

all from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną (“to sit”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”).^[1] The English word is a doublet of sit.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈseɪtə/, /ˈsɛ-/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈseɪtɚ/, /ˈsɛ-/, [-ɾɚ]
• Homophones: satyr (GA pronunciation), setter (one pronunciation)
• Rhymes: -eɪtə(ɹ), -ɛtə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: sae‧ter

Noun

saeter (plural saeters)

1. A Scandinavian mountainside meadow used during the summer for grazing milking cows or goats.
2. A barn, cabin, dairy, or farm located in such a meadow.
3. (Orkney, Shetland) A meadow, especially one used for grazing that is attached to a dwelling.

Alternative forms

• säter
• saether
• sæter (obsolete)
• seter

Translations

Scandinavian mountainside meadow used during the summer for grazing

Danish: sæter Faroese: ærgi n Norwegian: Bokmål: seter f Nynorsk: sæter f (obsolete), seter f

barn, etc., located in such a meadow

Danish: sæterhytte

meadow, especially one used for grazing attached to a dwelling

See also

• shieling

References

1. Compare “saeter, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “saeter, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• transhumance on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• teares, eaters, Eastre, teresa, Teresa, asteer, reseat, teaser, Teares, aretes, steare, seater, arsete, ratees, Trease, easter, arêtes, Seater, Easter, earset, Taseer, staree