anorak

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈænəɹæk/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Greenlandic annoraaq,^[2][3][4][5] reaching English partly through Danish.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The weatherproof hooded jacket of skin or cloth worn by the Inuit of Greenland (1924; 1922 in Merriam-Webster).^[6][5][3]

Semantic evolution

The name passed in the 1930s to Western jackets made in imitation of the Inuit garment.^[5][6] In British slang, by the early 1980s, anorak meant a boring or socially awkward person with an obsessive interest in a narrow subject, from the idea that such people typically wear one.^[5][6][1]

Timeline

• 1924 – the Inuit hooded jacket.^[6][5]
• 1930s – Western jackets of this kind.^[5]
• 1983–84 – slang, a socially inept enthusiast.^[5][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A hooded, weatherproof jacket, often pulled on over the head; a parka.
2. (British slang) A dull person with an obsessive interest in a niche subject.

Related words

• parka

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press