English
jail fodder
From jail + fodder, i.e.
Proto-Italic *kawos
…
Latin cavea ‘cavity, cage’
Latin caveola ‘little cage’
Anglo-Norman jaiole ‘prison’
Middle English gayole ‘jail, prison’
English jail
Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- ‘to guard, graze, feed’
…
Proto-Germanic *fōdrą
Proto-West Germanic *fōdr
Old English fōdor ‘feed’
Middle English fodder
English fodder
Today it means
noun A person with criminal tendencies who is considered to be expendable, worth nothing more than to occupy a jail.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / jail fodder