Potter Means to Fiddle About in Britain
A potter makes pots. As a verb it means to occupy yourself with small tasks, which Americans call puttering.
A potter is someone who makes pottery. The verb is a separate word with a quite different flavour: to potter is to occupy yourself with small unhurried tasks, a distinctly British activity usually done in a garden or shed. Americans say *putter*. The surname Potter, like many, records the ancestral trade.
- A maker of pottery. *A skilled potter.*
- To do small tasks (British). *Pottering in the garden.*
- Putter — the American form. *Puttering around.*
- Potter's wheel — the turning disc. *At the potter's wheel.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | potter | A studio potter. |
| Plural | potters | Local potters. |
| Verb | potter | Potter about. |
| American | putter | Putter around. |
| Noun | pottery | Glazed pottery. |
How it is used in a sentence
- He spent the day pottering.British: doing small unhurried tasks.
- The Potteries is a region of Staffordshire.Centre of the English ceramics industry.
- Potter's field means a burial ground for the poor.From a biblical reference.
Pottery terms
- Throwing — shaping clay on a wheel
- Bisque — the first firing, before glazing
- Glaze — the glassy coating applied and fired on
- Kiln — the oven used for firing
- Slip — liquid clay used for joining or decorating
From *pot*, of uncertain origin, plus the agent suffix. The verb meaning to fiddle about is a variant of an older word *pote*, to poke.
Potter or putter?
Potter is British, putter American. Both mean to busy yourself with small unhurried tasks.
What is a potter's field?
A burial ground for the poor and unknown, from a biblical account of a field bought as a burial place for strangers.