otter
/ˈɒtə/noun
otter is spelled O-T-T-E-R: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Otter, the name). As a noun, otter means “An aquatic or marine carnivorous mammal in the subfamily Lutrinae” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of otter is otters.
How many letters and syllables are in otter?
| Letters | 5: O-T-T-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 17,813th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is otter?
Otter appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Otter, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce otter?
- UK /ˈɒtə/
- British /ˈɔtə/
- /ˈɔtəɾ/
Otter has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-otter.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with otter
Also written: attar.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with otter?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as otter from its last stressed vowel (/ɒtə/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: torte, toter.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of otter
- otters plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does otter mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An aquatic or marine carnivorous mammal in the subfamily Lutrinae.
- 2
The flesh or fur of this animal
- 3
slangA hairy man with a slender physique, in contrast with a bear, who is more thickset.
- 4
obsoleteannatto (dye)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Otter in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense mammal:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does otter come from?
From Middle English oter, otir, otur, otyre, from Old English otor, from Proto-West Germanic *otr, from Proto-Germanic *utraz, from Proto-Indo-European *udrós (“aquatic, water-animal”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).