Etymologically
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catcher

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 07:48. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈkæt͡ʃə/[1]
  • US: /ˈkæt͡ʃəɹ/, /ˈkɛt͡ʃ-/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English caccher,[2][3] formed from Middle English cacchen (“to catch”) + -er,[3][4][5] the agent noun of catch.[5][4] The MED instead derives it from Anglo-Norman cachëour, comparing Central French chacëor,[2] and the OED compares northern French cacheor, a horse used in hunting, a variant of the word that gave chaser.[4] The OED notes earlier surnames such as “Ricardus Kaccher” (1200) and “Will. le Cachor” (1275), which may show the English word or an unrecorded Anglo-Norman one.[4][2] The verb catch comes from cachier (“to catch, capture”), from Vulgar Latin *captiō (“to try to seize”), from Latin captō (“to take, hold”), the frequentative of capiō (“to take”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A hunter or chaser of animals, a sense now obsolete: about 1400, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.[4][2] Etymonline dates "one who catches" to the mid-14th century.[5]

Semantic evolution

From the hunter the word passed to anyone who captures or takes hold of someone or something, especially a trapper of animals (about 1450).[4] From 1564 it was a person who catches something thrown or falling, and in sport one who makes a catch.[4] Johnson (1755) defined it both as he that catches and as that in which anything is caught.[6] The baseball player behind home plate is recorded from 1855 in the OED,[4] from 1867 in Etymonline.[5] The 19th century also used it for whaling and fishing ships (1829), for a worker who takes the hot metal from the rollers in a rolling mill (1832), and, as short for torpedo-catcher, for a fast warship (1885).[4] In American slang a ketcher was a watchman or policeman (1838),[7] and since 1967, after the baseball sense, the passive partner in sex, originally in prison slang.[7][4] In Devon a catcher was the fixed catch of a gate latch.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – a hunter, a driver of animals (obsolete by about 1440).[4][2]
  • c. 1450 – one who captures something, especially animals.[4]
  • 1564 – one who catches something thrown or falling.[4]
  • 1829 – a ship used in fishing or whaling.[4]
  • 1838 – in American slang, a watchman or policeman.[7]
  • 1855 – the baseball player behind home plate.[4]
  • 1885 – a fast warship for chasing torpedo boats.[4]
  • 1967 – in American slang, the passive sexual partner.[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person or thing that catches something.[9][3][4]
  2. In baseball and softball, the player stationed behind home plate who catches the pitches not hit by the batter: The catcher signalled for a fastball.[9][3][4]
  3. A member of a trapeze act who hangs from a bar and catches the flier.[3]
  4. (slang) The receptive partner in sexual intercourse.[4][7]
  5. (obsolete, c. 1400–1440) A hunter or chaser of animals.[4][2]

Word family

  • eye-catcher
  • cowcatcher
  • dogcatcher
  • flycatcher
  • gnatcatcher
  • oystercatcher
  • ratcatcher

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ a b c d e Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  8. ^ 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)
  9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins