English
hunter
Hunter comes from Middle English huntere, equivalent to hunt + -er.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500huntere‘hunter’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1601–1602hunter
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500huntere‘hunter’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1601–1602hunter
Earliest quotation: c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, Twelfe Night, or What You Will: “thy intercepter, full of despite, bloody as the hunter,…”
Formed from hunt + -er
Proto-Germanic *huntōną ‘to hunt’
Proto-West Germanic *huntōn ‘to hunt’
Old English huntian ‘to hunt’
Middle English hunten ‘to hunt’
English hunt
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱent-
through Middle English hunten ‘to hunt’
through Middle English huntere ‘a hunter’
Today it means
noun One who hunts game for sport or for food; a huntsman or huntswoman.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English huntere / hunter