Dictionary

ettin en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈɛtɪn/

Etymology

From Middle English eten, etend, from Old English eoten (“giant, monster, enemy”), from Proto-West Germanic *etun, from Proto-Germanic *etunaz (“giant, glutton”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”). Cognate with Icelandic jötunn (“giant”), Swedish jätte (“giant”), Danish jætte (“giant”). Doublet of jotun.

Meanings

1. (archaic, dialectal) A giant.
   • 1890, Joseph Jacobs, "The Red Ettin" in English Folk and Fairy Tales, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 3rd edition, no date, p. 138, https://archive.org/details/englishfairytale00jacouoft He asked the wife if he might stay for the night, as he was tired with a long journey; and the wife said he might, but it was not a good place for him to be in, as it belonged to the Red Ettin, who was a very terrible beast, with three heads, that spared no living man it could get hold of.
2. (qualifier:roleplaying games) A giant with two heads.

Forms