banter meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

banter

noun

UK /ˈbæntə/ · CA, US /ˈbæntɚ/

Etymology 1670s as verb, 1680s as noun. The origin is unknown, possibly from London street slang; ostensibly as *bant + -er (frequentative suffix). Possibly an Anglo-Gaelicism from the Irish bean (“woman”), so that "banter" means "talk of women."

Sharp, good-humoured, playful, typically spontaneous conversation.

I was elected to the Executive Committee of the Vegetarian Society, and made it a point to attend every one of its meetings, but I always felt tongue-tied. Dr. Oldfield once said to me, 'You talk to me quite all right, but why is it that you never open your lips at a committee meeting? You are a drone.' I appreciated the banter. The bees are ever busy, the drone is a thorough idler.1927–1929, M[ohandas] K[aramchand] Gandhi, chapter XVIII, in The Story of My Experiments with Truth: Translated from the Original in Gujarati, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Navajivan Press, →OCLC:
This bullying continuum illustrates the progressive escalation from harmless banter to bullying and criminal behaviours.2007, Evelyn M. Field, Bully Blocking, page 17:

Good-humoured bits of monologue and/or conversational prompts used in any of a wide range of occupations that must frequently interact with the public (for example, store clerks, salespersons, nurses).

Derived terms: banterer, banterous, bantersome, bantery, bants, soy banter

banter

verb

7 senses

1To engage in banter or playful conversation.
2To play or do something amusing.
3To tease (someone) mildly.
4To joke about; to ridicule (a trait, habit, etc.).
5To delude or trick; to play a prank upon.
6To challenge to a match.
7To haggle; cheapen the price.

To engage in banter or playful conversation.

To play or do something amusing.

To tease (someone) mildly.

Here comes the muſty trader, running over vvith remonſtrances. I muſt banter the cit.1760 January 28 (first performance), [Samuel] Foote, The Minor, a Comedy. […], London: […] J. Coote, […]; G[eorge] Kearsly, […]; T[homas] Davies, […], published 1760, →OCLC, Act II, page 56:
Hag-ridden by my own fancy all night, and then bantered on my haggard looks the next day.1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], Tales of a Traveller, (please specify |part=1 to 4), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC:

1 more example

Mr. Sweeting was bantered about his stature, he was a little man, a mere boy in height and breadth compared with the athletic Malone, […]1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Levitical”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 8:

To joke about; to ridicule (a trait, habit, etc.).

June 1804, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham If they banter your regularity, order, and love of study, banter in return their neglect of them.

To delude or trick; to play a prank upon.

[W]e diverted ourſelves vvith bantering ſeveral other poor Scholars, vvith hopes of being at leaſt his Lordſhip's Chaplains and putting on a Scarf; […]1722 (indicated as 1721), [Daniel Defoe], The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. […], London: […] W[illiam Rufus] Chetwood, […]; and T. Edling, […], published 1722, →OCLC, pages 69–70:

Southern, US, Western, Colloquial To challenge to a match.

UK, Dialectal To haggle; cheapen the price.

Derived terms: Archbishop of Banterbury, bant, Bantersaurus Rex

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