scatter

Definition

To (cause to) separate and go in different directions; to disperse.

Etymology

From Middle English scateren, skateren, also schateren, * probably a variant of shatter, which is imitative; * or from Old English *sceaterian, probably from a dialect of Old Norse, possibly ultimately related to Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to cut, split, shatter”). Compare Middle Dutch scheteren (“to scatter”), Low German schateren, Dutch schateren (“to burst out laughing”); and is apparently remotely akin to Ancient Greek σκεδάννυμι (skedánnumi, “scatter, disperse”). and Tocharian B kät- (“to scatter, sow seeds”). Doublet of shatter.

Example Sentences

• "The crowd scattered in fright."
• "Scatter and disperse the giddy Goths."
• "The fish scattered along the waterfall."