Saeter

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈseɪtə/

Definitions

1. A mountainous pasture area utilized for seasonal grazing of livestock like sheep or goats often located at higher elevations
2. An elevated grassy landscape that serves as a seasonal grazing ground for livestock during warmer months, typically found in hilly regions
3. A high-altitude meadow where livestock such as sheep are grazed during certain seasons, usually in mountainous terrain

Etymology: The English word comes from Norwegian, where "sæter" (also spelled "seter") names a high summer pasture above the tree line, where cattle and goats were moved to graze while the lowland farms were left to grow hay. Norway's mountain pastures gave the word its meaning, and the Norwegian and Swedish forms ("säter") share the same ancestry. The Norse word "sætr" carried a remarkable range of senses in Old Norse: a dairy farm, a mountain pasture, a dwelling, a seat, and even "the setting of the sun." These meanings all grow from one idea of settling or sitting down in a place. Herders who stayed in a remote spot for the season were, in a sense, sitting there. Behind all of this stands the Proto-Germanic verb "*sitjaną," meaning "to sit," which also gave English the verb "sit." The English noun and verb are therefore doublets, two words descended from the same root that reached English by different routes.