why is the stretcher used for a wounded person called a litter?

Answer 1

Old French "litière", "bed".
From Low Latin "lectaria", from "lectus", "bed".
Related words "lair", "lay", and "lie", all from the same root.

Using the word in the sense of "to scatter rubbish" is a fairly modern invention, from the way some animals scatter straw and other stuff to make a bed.

Answer 2

A litter is the name for a thing on which something is carried. an open sedan chair is known as a litter. I'm guessing now but I think a stretcher is the name given to a folding litter but it has superceded the old name.

Answer 3

To stop the mess lol

Seriously, it comes from (Etymology) the Middle English word for a bed. However, having also the Anglo-Saxon word Bed, we made Litter the word for an aminal bed. However, the ruling and fighting classes used the word for a streacher in war time.

Anglo-French - litere, from Latin lectus

The rubbish word stems from the fact, that in Tudor times, the animal bed was full of droppings, and thus the litter had to be changed, the name was thus given to the droppings, and to animals born in one batch, like a horse droppings

Answer 4

During Ancient times if a soldier was wounded, he laid in the field where he had fallen. There was no one to come to his aid.
Napoleon's Army was the first to assign people to help the wounded. They were called the litter-bearers, made up mostly of inept and expendable soldiers.

Answer 5

The word litter is derived from the old French word 'litiere' = bed. It is also used to refer to bedding for animals - hay or straw scattered about - giving us the term used to describe bits of rubbish strewn about.

Answer 6

a litter ? NEVER HEARD OF IT !!