Spatter is a frequentative formation, probably from a Low German or Dutch base (cf. Dutch and Low German spatten 'to burst, spatter'), of imitative origin. The quoted older sense, "to burst, spatter," supplies the immediate semantic anchor for spatter. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word spatter carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a verb, "to scatter or splash in small drops". English derivatives include spattering; related English forms include splatter and sputter. The result is a verb and noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.