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caller

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Etymology and origin of the English word caller

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈkɔːlə/[1]

caller1 one who calls

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1425 before 1425, Medulla Grammatice
Ultimate origin
Old Norse kalla

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English caller,[2] formed from Middle English callen (“to call”) + -er,[3][4][2][5] from call, which is callen, borrowed from Old Norse kalla (“to cry loudly, summon”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who cries out, proclaims or announces: before 1425, in the Medulla Grammatice;[3] the MED has it in 1435, of one who calls or shouts.[2] Etymonline dates "one who proclaims" to about 1500.[6]

Semantic evolution

A caller was a person who calls a meeting from 1565,[3] a hunter who sounds a call to attract game from 1725,[3] and a visitor from 1786.[3][6] The sense of a person who announces the figures in a square dance arose in the United States in 1855;[3] Etymonline takes it as short for caller-out.[6] From 1863 a caller was someone who woke people for work, in north-eastern England a miner's summoner,[3][7] and in poker from 1864 a player who matches a bet.[3] The sense "one who makes a telephone call" is from 1879,[3] and "one who calls the numbers at bingo" from 1934.[3]

Timeline

  • before 1425 – a person who cries out or announces.[3]
  • c. 1503 – a person who brings a complaint before a court (obsolete).[3]
  • 1565 – a person who calls a meeting.[3]
  • 1725 – a hunter who calls game; a decoy bird.[3]
  • 1786 – a visitor.[3][6]
  • 1855 – the announcer of figures in a square dance.[3]
  • 1863 – a person who wakes people for work, especially miners.[3]
  • 1864 – in poker, a player who calls a bet.[3]
  • 1879 – a person who makes a telephone call.[3]
  • 1934 – a person who calls the numbers at bingo.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who makes a telephone call: The caller hung up before I could answer.[3][8][9]
  2. A person who pays a short visit; a visitor.[8][3]
  3. A person who calls out the figures in a square dance, or the numbers in bingo.[9][3][4]
  4. A person or thing that calls or cries out.[8][9][3]
  5. (Australia) A racing commentator.[8]

Word family

  • name-caller
  • caller ID

caller2 fresh (Scots)

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1480 Legends of the Saints
From
Middle English callour
Ultimate origin
Old English calwer

Etymology

The Scots adjective is inherited from Middle English callour,[9][10] probably an alteration of calver,[9][11][4] with the Scots loss of -v- seen in siller for silver;[3][4] the OED calls the origin uncertain,[3] and Klein too.[5] The Middle English adjective, used of salmon flesh flaked with white like curd, comes from Old English calwer (“curds”).[2][10] Collins suggests it may be a Scottish variant of calver, to prepare fresh salmon or trout.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of food, especially fish: very fresh: about 1480, in the Scottish Legends of the Saints.[3] Merriam-Webster and Hoad date the word to the 14th century.[9][10]

Semantic evolution

From the early 16th century the word was used of air and water, meaning fresh and cool, first in Gavin Douglas's translation of the Aeneid.[3][4] The sense "healthy, vigorous" is recorded from 1754 but is now rare.[3] The Dialect Dictionary records it in Scotland and northern England, in Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland and Yorkshire, for fish newly caught and vegetables newly gathered, as in the street cry caller herrin', and for cool, refreshing air.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1480 – of food, especially fish, very fresh.[3]
  • before 1522 – of air or water, fresh and cool.[3]
  • 1754 – healthy, vigorous (now rare).[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Scottish) Of food, especially fish: fresh, newly caught.[8][9][7]
  2. (Scottish) Of air or water: fresh and cool.[8][9][7]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Related etymologies

  • rug · also from Old Norse
  • slack · also from Old Norse
  • blaze · also from Old Norse
  • gaze · also from Old Norse
  • beck · also from Old Norse
  • calf · also from Old Norse
  • scarf · also from Old Norse
  • lag · also from Old Norse
Cite this entry

“Caller.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/caller. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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