English
beaker
Beaker may come from Middle English bekyr.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bekyruncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1961beaker
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bekyruncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1961beaker
Earliest quotation: 1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, Beowulf: “The beakers of mead spilled in huge puddles.”
The story
From Middle English bekyr, biker, from Old Norse bikarr (‘cup’), from Old Saxon bikeri (‘cup’), from Proto-West Germanic *bikārī, from Late Latin bīcārium (‘wine vat, jug’), of disputed origin.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.
Linked words
through Late Latin bīcārium ‘wine vat, jug’
Today it means
noun A flat-bottomed, straight-sided, glass vessel, with a lip and often a small spout, used as a laboratory container.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English bekyr / beaker