English
knacker's yard
Knacker's yard comes from English knacker ‘one who slaughters and (especially) renders…’.
- English1500–presentknacker‘one who slaughters and (especially) renders worn-out livestock and sells their flesh’
- Englishearliest quotation 1847knacker's yard
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- English1500–presentknacker‘one who slaughters and (especially) renders worn-out livestock and sells their flesh’
- Englishearliest quotation 1847knacker's yard
Earliest quotation: 1847, Draining: “CXXV. The Commissioners may license such slaughter-house and knacker's…”
Made of the words knacker's + yard
Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- ‘to enclose’
…
Proto-Germanic *gardaz ‘enclosure’
Proto-West Germanic *gard ‘enclosure’
Old English ġeard ‘yard’
Middle English yerd ‘the property surrounding an estate or manor’
English yard
Every English word from English knacker
Today it means
noun The area of a slaughterhouse where carcasses unfit for human consumption or other purposes are rendered down to produce useful materials such as glue.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / English knacker / knacker's yard