English

Proper noun

Walter

1. A male given name.
   • ~1590 William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part II, Act IV, Scene I

     Whitmore. And so am I; my name is Walter Whitmore. / How now! why start'st thou? what! doth death affright?

     Suffolk. Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is death. / A cunning man did calculate my birth, / And told me that by Water I should die. / Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded; / Thy name is - Gaultier, being rightly sounded.

   • 1991 Julian Barnes, Talking It Over, ISBN 0-224-03157-0 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.

Related terms

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

Translations

German

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -altəʁ

Alternative forms

• Walther

Etymology

From Old High German waltan ‎(“to rule”) + heri ‎(“army”). Cognate with English Walter.

Proper noun

Walter

1. A male given name.
2. A common patronymic surname​.

Usage notes

• Popular given name in Germany since the Middle Ages due to Walter of Aquitaine, a legendary Visigoth king celebrated in German folklore.

Portuguese

Proper noun

Walter m

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

Swedish

Proper noun

Walter

1. A male given name, variant spelling of Valter.

English

Verb

walter ‎(third-person singular simple present walters, present participle waltering, simple past and past participle waltered)

1. (obsolete, dialect, Britain, Scotland) To roll or wallow; to welter.