bowser

Etymology

It is from English from Bowser, a trade name.^{[2][3][1][4][5][6]} The Dictionary of Canadian English on Historical Principles and Collins trace the name to Sylvanus F. Bowser, an American inventor from Fort Wayne, Indiana, who made the first such pump in 1885; it was first called the “Bowser pump”, later shortened.^[7][8] Dictionary.com says it is "said to be" after S. F. Bowser and Co., a Sydney maker of petrol and oil storage systems,^[9] and Oxford's dictionaries say only that it is the name of a firm of oil storage engineers.^[10][11][12] The Shorter Oxford and the Canadian Oxford Dictionary call it of unknown origin.^[13][14]

Earliest recorded meaning

A pump for dispensing fuel: one of the first records in Canada is a newspaper advertisement of 1916.^[7] The OED's first record is the Trade Marks Journal of 26 October 1921, for a petrol pump and a petrol tanker.^[1] Oxford dates the word to the 1920s,^[10][12] and Dictionary.com to 1930–35.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The Dictionary of Canadian English on Historical Principles thinks the American term spread to Canada in the early 1900s, when Canadians began buying cars in numbers.^[7] In Britain the word came to mean chiefly a tanker used for fuelling aircraft, military vehicles and the like,^[8][15][1] and also a mobile tank for supplying water,^[13][15] while in Australia and New Zealand it remained the usual word for a petrol pump at a service station, recorded in Australian newspapers from 1947.^{[2][6][4][16]} In New Zealand it can also mean the petrol station itself,^[5][16] and in several Caribbean territories (Antigua, the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada) a bowser is a gasoline station.^[17]

Timeline

• 1916 – a fuel pump, in a Canadian newspaper advertisement.^[7]
• 1921 – a petrol pump; also a petrol tanker for fuelling aircraft and tanks.^[1]
• 1947 – in Australia, a petrol pump at a garage.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tanker truck or trailer carrying fuel for aircraft, military vehicles and the like: A bowser pulled up beside the plane.^{[8][15][1][4]}
2. A mobile tank used to supply fresh water.^[13][15]
3. (chiefly Australia and New Zealand) A petrol pump at a service station.^{[2][6][4][5][1]}
4. (Caribbean) A gasoline station.^[17]

Usage notes

Collins labels the petrol-pump sense obsolete in Australia and New Zealand,^[8] while the Macquarie Dictionary and the Australian Oxford Dictionary give it as current.^[6][4] In Canada the word is rare and far less common than gas pump, though it is used there more than in the United States.^[7] Bowser was also a common name for a dog, recorded by Etymonline from 1806 and perhaps imitating a dog's bark;^[18] in slang it has meant any dog (1940s, and in the United States from 1965) and in New Zealand a cheerful fellow (1972).^[16][19] Separately, the OED records an obsolete bowser, a treasurer or bursar (1534–1721), perhaps a corruption of Anglo-Norman bourser (compare bursar),^[1] and Green's Dictionary of Slang a bowser, a heavy drinker, from 1607, from bouse.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
4. ^ a b c d e Moore, Bruce, ed. (2004), The Australian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed., Melbourne: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Deverson, Tony; Kennedy, Graeme, eds. (2005), The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary, Auckland: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d The Macquarie Dictionary (2013), 6th ed., Sydney: Macquarie Dictionary Publishers
7. ^ a b c d e Dollinger, Stefan, ed., A Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, 3rd ed. (online), Vancouver: University of British Columbia, dchp.arts.ubc.ca
8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ Barber, Katherine, ed. (2004), The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, 2nd ed., Toronto: Oxford University Press
15. ^ a b c d The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
16. ^ a b c d e Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
17. ^ a b Allsopp, Richard, ed. (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Oxford: Oxford University Press
18. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
19. ^ Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge