English
devourer
Devourer comes from Old French devorer ‘to devour’, and goes back to Latin vorō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvorō‘to devour’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdevoroas dēvorō‘to swallow, gulp down, or devour’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400devorer‘to devour’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500devouren‘to devour, engulf’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500devourere‘one who devours or gobbles’
- Englishearliest quotation 1774devourer
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvorō‘to devour’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdevoroas dēvorō‘to swallow, gulp down, or devour’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400devorer‘to devour’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500devouren‘to devour, engulf’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500devourere‘one who devours or gobbles’
- Englishearliest quotation 1774devourer
Earliest quotation: 1774, Edward Long, The History of Jamaica: “It is doubtful, whether we ought to ascribe any…”
Formed from devour + -er
Latin vorō ‘to devour’
Latin dēvorō ‘to swallow, gulp down, or devour’
Old French devorer ‘to devour’
Middle English devouren ‘to devour or eat up’
English devour
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- ‘to devour’
gorge, quirk, gurgle, ouroboros, 25 more
through Latin vorō ‘to devour’
Today it means
noun One who devours.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin vorō / devourer