English
maker
Maker comes from Middle English maker ‘God as creator of all’, and goes back to Old English macian ‘to perform or carry out (a miracle)’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150macian‘to perform or carry out (a miracle)’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500maken‘to make or create’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500maker‘God as creator of all’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1521maker
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150macian‘to perform or carry out (a miracle)’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500maken‘to make or create’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500maker‘God as creator of all’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1521maker
Earliest quotation: c. 1521, John Skelton: “Set ſophia aſyde, for euery iack raker And euery…”
Formed from make + -er
Proto-Germanic *makaz ‘fit, suitable, agreeable’
Proto-West Germanic *mak ‘fit, suitable’
Proto-West Germanic *makōn ‘to make suitable; to build, make’
Old English macian ‘to make, build, work’
Middle English maken
English make
Linked words
through Old English macian ‘to perform or carry out (a miracle)’
through Middle English maker ‘God as creator of all’
Today it means
noun Someone who makes; a person or thing that makes or produces something.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English macian / maker