collar

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkɒlə/ (UK); /ˈkɑlɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English coler, coller, borrowed from Anglo-Norman coler, Old French colier, coler, neck, collar (modern French collier),^[2][3][4] from Latin collāre, a band or chain for the neck, from collum, neck,^[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *kʷol-o-, neck, literally that on which the head turns,^[3] cognate with Old English heals and German Hals (“neck”).^[2][5] The spelling was re-Latinized in early modern English.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A piece of armour protecting the neck: 1297 in the OED, about 1300 in Barnhart.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The part of a garment encircling the neck is from before 1300,^[6] an ornamental chain or badge from about 1325,^[6] and a band round the neck of a dog or other animal from 1377.^[6] The neck-band of a horse's harness is from the mid-15th century.^[3] The verb, to seize someone by the collar or neck, is from before 1555 (the 1550s),^[2][3] to capture from the 1610s,^[3] and to put a collar on from about 1600.^[3] Various technical uses date from the 17th century.^[4] An arrest is a later slang sense.^[7]

Timeline

• 1297 – neck armour.^[6]
• before 1300 – part of a garment.^[6]
• 1377 – a dog collar.^[6]
• before 1555 – to seize by the collar (verb).^[2]
• 1610s – to capture.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The part of a garment that encircles the neck.
2. A band put round the neck of an animal to restrain or identify it.
3. A necklace or band encircling the neck.
4. A ring-shaped device that holds or guides a machine part.
5. (slang) An arrest.

Verb

1. To seize or detain; to arrest.
2. To put a collar on.

Word family

• collared
• collarless
• uncollar
• blue-collar
• rainbow-collar
• collarbone
• pink-collar
• white-collar

Related words

• accolade
• décolleté

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin