English
doer
Doer comes from Middle English doer ‘doer, agent’, and goes back to Old English dōere.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150dōere‘a doer’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500doer‘doer, agent’
- Englishearliest quotation 1924same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150dōere‘a doer’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500doer‘doer, agent’
- Englishearliest quotation 1924same form
Earliest quotation: 1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, VIII. The Orestea: III. Eumenides: “By the wisdom proclaimed of old the doer must…”
Formed from do + -er
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to put’
Proto-Germanic *dōną ‘to do’
Proto-West Germanic *dōn ‘to do’
Old English dōn ‘to do’
Middle English don
English do
Every English word from Old English dōere
Today it means
noun Someone who does, performs, or executes; an active person, an agent.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English dōere / doer