Rutter
name, noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A horseman or cavalryman, especially a German one, associated with the wars of the 16th and 17th centuries. historical
"Such a regiment of rutters / Never defied men braver"
- 2 A set of instructions for navigating a course at sea; a pilot's book or seaman's guide. historical
"But a rutter was only as good as the pilot who wrote it, the scribe who hand-copied it, the very rare printer who printed it, or the scholar who translated it."
- 3 A tool used in peat cutting or for marking off ground. Scotland
- 4 A type of plough used by lumberjacks to carve a track for a sleigh. Canada, US, historical
- 5 The penis. slang
"She moved my rutter so that it was not poking into her. We fell asleep."
- 1 A surname.
- 2 A community in French River municipality, Sudbury District, Ontario, Canada.
Example
More examples"The super computer bested veteran Jeopardy champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in all categories: the arts, popular culture, science, geography, wordplay and more."
Etymology
From Middle Dutch ruter, rutter, variants of ruiter, from Middle French routier (“mercenary soldier”), corresponding to route + ier; see rout.
From Middle French routier, corresponding to route + -ier.
From rut + -er.
* As an English surname, from rote (musical instrument), as well as from Old French routier (“robber”) * As a Dutch surname, from Middle Dutch ruter (“freebooter”), itself cognate with the Old French term. Also see Reuter.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.