Etymologically
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charger

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈtʃɑːdʒə/[1]
  • US: /ˈtʃɑɹdʒəɹ/[1]

charger1 large dish

Etymology

The dish is inherited from Middle English chargeour, also chariour and charchour,[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman chargeour (“large flat dish”),[3][4][5] apparently a specific use of Old French chargeor (“place where goods are loaded”),[3] from chargier (“to load”),[4][6] the source of the verb charge.[3][7][8] The French verb comes from Late Latin carricō (“to load”),[4][6] and Klein derives the noun from Vulgar Latin *carricatōrium (“a utensil for loading or carrying”).[8] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1166, first for a quay or landing stage where goods were loaded, and also for a large serving dish.[9] The OED notes that Middle English forms in “chari-” reflect Old French spellings,[3] and Collins explains the name as something that bears a load.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

A large serving dish or plate, especially for meat: the MED's first records are from 1344 and 1371, in account rolls,[2] and the OED's first quotation is from about 1390, in a poem of the Vernon manuscript in which the dish says that it carried flesh for people's feasts.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word could also name other dishes and a kind of mould.[2] It was well known from the Bible's account of John the Baptist's head brought in a charger,[11] and Johnson (1755) defined it simply as a large dish.[12] In the 19th century it survived in the dialects of Yorkshire, Cheshire and Sussex for a large platter or meat dish.[11] In distilling, from 1814, a charger was a container in which substances were collected before distillation.[3] Since 1980, chiefly in North America, a charger or charger plate has been a large decorative plate that marks a place at a formal table.[3]

Timeline

  • 1344 – charchours, serving dishes, in an account roll.[2]
  • c. 1390 – a large plate or flat dish for serving food.[3]
  • 1755 – Johnson defines it as a large dish.[12]
  • 1814 – in distilling, a container for collecting substances.[3]
  • 1980 – a decorative charger plate in a formal place setting.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A large flat dish or platter, especially one for serving meat or for display.[7][10][3]
  2. A large decorative plate set under the dinner plate at a formal table; a charger plate.[3]

charger2 one that charges; warhorse; device

Etymology

The noun for a person or thing that charges is formed from English charge + -er.[3][5][7][13] The OED compares Middle French chargeur (“person who loads something”), recorded from 1332, and chargeoir, a device for loading a firearm (1514).[3] Its Middle English form was chargere,[7] also written with “-our”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who loads or packs something: about 1475, in the Catholicon Anglicum; this sense is rare and obsolete.[3] Etymonline dates "one who loads" to the late 15th century.[13]

Semantic evolution

The word took most of its senses from those of the verb charge.[3] From 1496 it named pieces of equipment for loading a firearm or storing powder and shot;[3] a clip that feeds cartridges into the magazine of a rifle followed in 1902.[3][7] In the 17th century a charger was also an accuser,[3][5] and in Scots law, from 1670, a person who obtains a charge on a debtor's property.[3] The horse ridden in a charge against the enemy, and so an officer's horse or any large warhorse, is recorded in the OED from 1706,[3] while Etymonline dates it to 1762;[13] the Shorter Oxford notes that in poetry it can mean any horse.[5] With electricity the word gained its commonest modern sense, a device for charging a battery, first recorded in 1861.[3] In sport, since 1967, a charger has been a competitor who races or plays aggressively.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1475 – a person who loads or packs something (obsolete).[3]
  • 1496 – equipment for loading a firearm or storing powder.[3]
  • 1539 – one that charges, Merriam-Webster's first date.[7]
  • c. 1600 – an accuser (obsolete).[3]
  • 1670 – in Scots law, one who obtains a charge on a debtor's property.[3]
  • 1706 – a horse ridden in a charge; an officer's horse.[3]
  • 1762 – Etymonline's date for the warhorse sense.[13]
  • 1861 – a device for charging a battery.[3]
  • 1902 – a clip for loading the magazine of a rifle.[3]
  • 1967 – in sport, an aggressive competitor.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A device for charging a battery or a battery-powered device such as a phone.[10][7][3]
  2. A large strong horse ridden into battle; a cavalry or officer's horse.[10][7][3]
  3. A person or thing that charges.[10]
  4. A device or clip for loading cartridges into the magazine of a firearm.[7][3]
  5. (obsolete) An accuser.[3][5]

Word family

  • supercharger

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 33 34 35 36 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ a b 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)
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com