Other forms: tooting, toots
To toot is to make a short sound on a horn. Toot the horn, a toot of the whistle, give it a toot.
It is a small friendly noise rather than a blast, which is why a toot of the horn is a greeting and a sounding of it is a warning. Toot your own horn is the American phrase for boasting; the British version is blow your own trumpet. Note that toot is imitative, like beep and honk, and that every language has its own version of the same noise, which rarely sound alike.
1verbtootTo make a short sound on a horn.
“The driver behind us tooted his horn the moment the lights turned green.”
2nounsoundSuch a sound.
“The driver gave a friendly toot as he drove past our house.”
toot is a short horn sound.
The word is imitative, coined from the sound. Dutch toeteren, German tuten and Swedish tuta are the same noise heard by neighbours, all formed independently.
From tweet. Probably imitative of the sound in origin. Compare Dutch toeteren (“to blow a horn”), German tuten, Swedish tuta, Danish tude. Noun Mastodon post ("Mastodon post") and verb to post on Mastodon ("to post on Mastodon") are influenced by tweet (“Twitter post”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA