English
stoker
Stoker comes from Middle Dutch stoken ‘to stoke, incite’.
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500stoken‘to stoke, incite’literally ‘to poke, jab, thrust’
- Middle Dutch, derivedc. 1150–1500stoker
- Englishearliest quotation 1953same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500stoken‘to stoke, incite’literally ‘to poke, jab, thrust’
- Middle Dutch, derivedc. 1150–1500stoker
- Englishearliest quotation 1953same form
Earliest quotation: 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt: “For this was a line so little frequented, especially…”
Linked words
through Middle Dutch stoken ‘to stoke, incite’
Today it means
noun A person who stokes, especially one on a steamship or steam train, who stokes coal in the boilers.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle Dutch stoken / stoker