English
writer
Writer comes from Middle English writer, from Old English wrītere ‘scribe, writer’, from wrītan ‘to write’, from Proto-Germanic *wrītaną ‘to scratch, carve’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wrītaną‘to scratch’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wrītan‘to scratch’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wrītan‘to write’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150wrītere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500writer‘a draughtsman’
- Englishearliest quotation 1638same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wrītaną‘to scratch’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wrītan‘to scratch’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wrītan‘to write’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150wrītere
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500writer‘a draughtsman’
- Englishearliest quotation 1638same form
Earliest quotation: 1638, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy. […]: “Beautie alone is a ſoveraigne remedy againſt feare,griefe,and all…”
Formed from write + -er
Proto-Indo-European *wrey- ‘to rip’
Proto-Germanic *wrītaną ‘to carve’
Proto-West Germanic *wrītan ‘to scratch’
Old English wrītan ‘to write’
Middle English writen ‘to write’
English write
Linked words
through Old English wrītan ‘to write’
Today it means
noun A person who writes, or produces literary work; an author can refer to themselves as "the writer".
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *wrītaną / writer