English
drawer
From draw (“to move by pulling”) + -er; compare French tiroir.
Formed from draw ‘to move by pulling’ + -er
Proto-Germanic *draganą ‘to carry’
Proto-West Germanic *dragan ‘to carry’
Old English dragan ‘to drag’
Middle English dragen ‘to drag’
English draw
The story
Attested from the 16th century.
Another origin of drawer
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰregʰ-‘to pull, draw, drag’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰrógʰ-e-tiuncertain
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*draganą‘to draw, to pull, to carry’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*dragan‘to haul, carry’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150dragan‘to draw, drag’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500drawen‘to unsheathe or pull out a weapon or arrow’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500drawer‘one who pulls’
- Englishtodaysame form
Attested from the 14th century.
Today it means
noun An open-topped box that can be slid in and out of the cabinet that contains it, used for storing clothing or other articles.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / drawer