Meaning

noun the noise of something spattering or sputtering explosively

noun an utterance (of words) with spitting sounds (as in rage)

verb make an explosive sound

originProbably representing Middle English *sputren, *sputrien, a frequentative form of Middle English sputen (“to spout, vomit”), equivalent to spout + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian spüttern (“to inject, spray, splash”), West Frisian sputterje (“to sputter”), Dutch sputteren (“to sputter”), Low German sputtern, spruttern (“to sprinkle”), German sprudeln (“to spout, squirt”). Compare splutter.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0