Walter

Walter

See also: walter

English

Etymology

A Germanic name, from Old Northern French Waltier, from Frankish *Waltheri (compare Old High German Waltheri, which see for more details), from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz, from *waldą (“ruler”) +‎ *harjaz (“army, host”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“be strong”) + *ker- (“army”). Related to Old English Waldhere. Compare herald and Harold, which have these elements reversed.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɔltɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɔːltə/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈwɑltɚ/
• Rhymes: -ɔːltə(ɹ)

Proper noun

Walter

1. A male given name from the Germanic languages.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

   • 1991, Julian Barnes, Talking It Over, →ISBN, page 13:

     And with some appellations, the contrary applies. Like Walter, for instance. You can't be Walter in a pram. You can't be Walter until you're about seventy-five in my view.

   • 2003, Elinor Sisulu, Walter & Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime (page 151)

     Walter complained about the assault and isolation of the volunteers. Two policemen immediately grabbed him and dragged him to the punishment cells.

2. A surname.
3. An unincorporatedcommunity in Cullman County, Alabama, United States.
4. A township in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, United States.

Derived terms

• Walterboro

Related terms

• (pet forms) Wally, Walt, Wat
• (surnames) Fitzwater, Gwatkin, Walters, Waters, Waterson, Watkin, Watkins, Watkinson, Watson, Watt, Watts

Translations

male given name

Armenian: Վալտեր (Valter) Bengali: ওয়াল্টার (oyalṭar) Catalan: Gualter Chinese: Cantonese: 華特, 华特 (waa4 dat6) Mandarin: 瓦爾特／瓦尔特 (zh) (Wǎ'ěrtè); 沃爾特／沃尔特 (Wò'ěrtè) Czech: Valtr (cs) m Dutch: Wouter (nl) m Esperanto: Valtero Estonian: Valter Finnish: Valtteri (fi) French: Gautier (fr) m Galician: Guterre (gl) German: Walter (de) m, Walther (de) m Greek: Γουώλτερ (Gouólter) Hindi: वालटर m (vālṭar), वॉल्टर m (vŏlṭar) Hungarian: Valter (hu) Icelandic: Valtýr (is) m, Valter (is) m Irish: Ualtar m Italian: Gualtiero (it) m Japanese: ウォルター (Worutā) Korean: 월터 (Wolteo) Latin: Gualterius Latvian: Valters m Lithuanian: Valteris (lt) m Low German: Wöltje Maori: Wāta Polish: Walter (pl) m Portuguese: Guálter m, Gualtério m, Valter m, Walter m Russian: Ва́льтер (ru) m (Válʹtɛr) (traditional or from German), Уо́лтер (ru) m (Uóltɛr) (from English, modern) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: Валтер m Roman: Valter m Slovene: Valter m Spanish: Gualterio m Swedish: Valter (sv)

Anagrams

• Lawter, rewalt

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German

Alternative forms

• Walther

Etymology

From Old High German Waltheri, from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz. Cognate with English Walter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvaltər/, [ˈval.tɐ], [ˈʋal-]

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -altəʁ

Proper noun

Walter m (proper noun, strong, genitive Walters or Walter)

1. a male given name

Proper noun

Walter m or f (proper noun, surname, masculine genitive Walters or (with an article) Walter, feminine genitive Walter, plural Walters or Walter)

1. a common surname originating as a patronymic

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Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Walter or German Walter (and Walther), both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *Waldahari, from Proto-Germanic *Waldaharjaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈval.ter/[1]
• Rhymes: -alter

Proper noun

Walter m

1. a male given name

References

1. Walter in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

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Portuguese

Proper noun

Walter m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Walter, Alternative form of Valter

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwalteɾ/ [ˈwal̪.t̪eɾ]
• Rhymes: -alteɾ

Proper noun

Walter m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Walter, Alternative form of Gutierre

Usage notes

A popular name in Spanish-speaking South America. As in English, stress is on the first syllable, even though Spanish orthography would necessitate the placing of an accent mark, rendering it ̼"Wálter", this spelling is seldom used.

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Swedish

Proper noun

Walter c (genitive Walters)

1. a male given name, variant of Valter