English
holder
Holder comes from Middle English holden ‘to hold’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *haldaną.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haldaną‘to hold, to keep’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haldan‘to hold’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150healdan‘to hold fast, to grasp’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500holden‘to hold’
- English1500–presenthold
- Englishearliest quotation 1881holder
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*haldaną‘to hold, to keep’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*haldan‘to hold’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150healdan‘to hold fast, to grasp’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500holden‘to hold’
- English1500–presenthold
- Englishearliest quotation 1881holder
Earliest quotation: 1881, George Saintsbury, Dryden: “Davenant, the last holder of the laureateship, had died…”
A compound of hold + -er
Proto-Germanic *haldaną ‘to tend, herd’
Proto-West Germanic *haldan
Old English healdan
Middle English holden ‘to hold’
English hold
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ‘to hide, conceal’
hell, cell, hall, color, ceiling, hole, hull, helmet, helm, conceal, hollow, occult, sari, clandestine, sala, cilia, recline, declination, declension, haugh, tricolour, seel, hele, halberd, holing, 37 more
through Proto-West Germanic *haldan ‘to hold’
through Middle English holden ‘to hold’
Today it means
noun A thing that holds.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *haldaną / holder