carver

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English kerver,^[2] also kervere in Chaucer,^[3][4] formed from Middle English kerven (“to carve”) + -er.^[2][5][6] The Middle English verb, now carve, is from Old English ceorfan (“to cut”), its k- coming from the influence of Scandinavian forms;^[7] Etymonline takes it further to Proto-West Germanic *kerbanan and Proto-Indo-European *gerbh- (“to scratch”).^[7] Etymonline records Carver as a surname from the late 13th century.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who carves or cuts: about 1380, in Wyclif,^[5] who wrote of purse kerveris, cutpurses.^[4] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the general sense the word narrowed to a carver of wood, ivory or stone, a sculptor, recorded about 1405 in a manuscript of Chaucer's Knight's Tale (written about 1385),^[5][3] and to the person who cuts up the meat at table, from before 1450.^[5] Johnson (1755) gave just these two senses.^[8] From 1578, in Lyly's Euphues, a carver was also, figuratively, someone who decides what share another receives, and to be one's own carver meant to help oneself as one pleased; this use had died out by 1797.^[5] The carving knife is recorded from 1839, in Thackeray, with a pair of carvers for a carving knife and fork;^[5][6] Etymonline dates this sense to 1840.^[7] In 1927 carver was first used for the armchair in a set of dining chairs, the one at the head of the table where the person carving the meat sits.^[5][7] In American slang carver has been a knife used as a weapon since 1907.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – one who carves or cuts.^[5][4]
• c. 1405 – a carver of wood, ivory or stone; a sculptor.^[5]
• before 1450 – one who carves the meat at table.^[5]
• 1578 – figuratively, one who assigns a share (obsolete by 1797).^[5]
• 1839 – a carving knife, and a pair of carvers.^[5] Etymonline dates it to 1840.^[7]
• 1907 – in American slang, a knife used as a weapon.^[9]
• 1927 – an armchair in a set of dining chairs.^[5][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who carves designs or figures in wood, stone, ivory or metal; a sculptor: a carver of church screens.^[2][5][6]
2. A person who carves the meat at table.^[2][5][8]
3. A carving knife; in the plural, a matched carving knife and fork.^[10][2][5]
4. (chiefly British) An armchair in a set of dining chairs, usually placed at the head of the table.^[10][5][6]

Word family

• woodcarver

Related words

• carve
• carving

Usage notes

The American Carver chair, with a rush seat, arms and a back of turned spindles, has a separate source: it is named after John Carver (1576–1621), the first governor of Plymouth Colony, and is recorded from 1902.^[5][6] The OED notes that the British dining-chair sense is distinct from it.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
4. ^ a b c Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins