Etymologically
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designer

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 02:20. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /dɪˈzaɪ.nə/, /dəˈzaɪ.nə/, US /dɪˈzaɪ.nɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is from English design + -er, an agent noun from the verb.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who schemes or plots, in a bad sense: 1649 in the OED, the 1640s in Etymonline.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

One who makes an artistic design or a plan of construction is from 1662, the 1660s in Etymonline,[4][2] and one who originates a plan from 1670.[4] As an adjective in fashion, bearing the name of a famous designer and so thought expensive or prestigious, it is from 1966.[2][4] A designer drug, one that mimics an illegal narcotic but has a different chemical composition to escape the law, is attested by 1983.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 1649 – a schemer.[4]
  • 1662 – one who designs.[4]
  • 1966 – designer goods.[2][4]
  • 1983 – designer drug.[2][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person who plans the look or working of something, such as clothes, buildings or machines.
  2. (archaic) A schemer or intriguer.

Adjective

  1. Made by or bearing the label of a well-known fashion designer: designer jeans.
  2. Fashionable or trendy.

Word family

  • interior designer
  • designer drug

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press