# banter
## English
### 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."

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈbæntə/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (US, Canada) IPA: /ˈbæntɚ/, [ˈbɛən.tɚ]
** Audio (California):(file)
* (General Australian) IPA: /ˈbæntə/, [ˈbeːn.tɐ]
** Audio (Queensland):(file)
* Rhymes: -æntə(ɹ)

### Noun

banter (uncountable)
* Sharp, good-humoured, playful, typically spontaneous conversation.
    Synonyms: pleasantry, raillery
** 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: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.
** 2007, Evelyn M. Field, Bully Blocking, page 17:This bullying continuum illustrates the progressive escalation from harmless banter to bullying and criminal behaviours.
* 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).
    Coordinate terms: chit-chat, small talk; patter, sales pitch

#### Derived terms

* banterer
* banterous
* bantersome
* bantery
* bants
* soy banter

#### Translations
### Verb

banter (third-person singular simple present banters, present participle bantering, simple past and past participle bantered)
* (intransitive) To engage in banter or playful conversation.
* (intransitive) To play or do something amusing.
* (transitive) To tease (someone) mildly.
    Synonyms: kid, wind up
** 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:Here comes the muſty trader, running over vvith remonſtrances. I muſt banter the cit.
** 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:Hag-ridden by my own fancy all night, and then bantered on my haggard looks the next day.
** 1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Levitical”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 8:Mr. Sweeting was bantered about his stature, he was a little man, a mere boy in height and breadth compared with the athletic Malone, […]
* (transitive) 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.
* (transitive) To delude or trick; to play a prank upon.
** 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:[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; […]
* (transitive, US, Southern and Western, colloquial) To challenge to a match.
* (UK, dialect) To haggle; cheapen the price.

#### Derived terms

* Archbishop of Banterbury
* bant
* Bantersaurus Rex

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “banter”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Further reading

* Michael Quinion (1996–2025) “Banter”, in World Wide Words.

### Anagrams

* Barnet, Breant, barnet, Bernat, Barten