English
player
Player comes from Middle English pleyere, from Old English pleġere ‘player, athlete’, from Proto-West Germanic *plegārī.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*plegārīreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150pleġere‘player, athlete’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pleyere‘one who plays a game or sport’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600player
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*plegārīreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150pleġere‘player, athlete’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pleyere‘one who plays a game or sport’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600player
Earliest quotation: c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, As You Like It: “All the world's a ſtage, / And all the…”
Formed from play + -er
Proto-West Germanic *plegō ‘an exercise’
Proto-West Germanic *plegōn ‘to move; to engage, practice’
Old English plegian ‘to play’
Middle English pleyen ‘to engage in a game or sport’
English play
Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *plegārī
Today it means
noun One who plays any game or sport.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *plegārī / player