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drawer

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Etymology and origin of the English word drawer

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1265, surname in Bardsley's Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames
Ultimate origins
Old English draganEnglish -er
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English draw
English drawer

Pronunciation

  • UK: /dɹɔː(ɹ)/, /ˈdɹɔː.ə(ɹ)/[1]
  • US: /dɹɔɹ/, /ˈdɹɔ.ɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is from English draw + -er, formed in Middle English.[2][3][4][5] The sense of a sliding box may be modelled on French tiroir (“drawer”), recorded from 1530 and formed on tirer (“to draw, pull”).[2][6][7] Agent nouns of the same kind are found in the other Germanic languages, such as Old English dragere, Dutch drager and German Träger.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person whose job was to pull or haul something in a manufacturing process: 1265, as a surname.[2] Etymonline dates the agent noun, one who draws water or pulls loads, to the mid-14th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

The agent noun followed the many senses of draw.[2] From 1379 a drawer was a tapster who drew drink for customers in a tavern,[2] like the "puny drawer" of Shakespeare's Henry IV quoted by Johnson,[8] and the Bible's "hewers of wood and drawers of water" were people who drew water from wells.[8] From 1570 it meant a person who draws pictures, while from 1638 it meant one who draws a cheque or bill of exchange.[2] The sliding box in a piece of furniture is recorded from 1565,[2] literally something that is drawn out;[7] drawers, underpants, from 1567, were originally a garment pulled on.[2][7] In the senses of the box and the garment the word is pronounced as one syllable.[6]

Timeline

  • 1265 – a hauler in manufacturing (as a surname).[2]
  • 1294 – a person or animal that draws something.[2]
  • 1379 – a tapster.[2][3]
  • 1565 – a sliding box in furniture.[2]
  • 1567 – drawers, underpants.[2]
  • 1570 – a person who draws pictures.[2]
  • 1638 – a person who writes a cheque or bill of exchange.[2]
  • 1699 – drawers, a chest of drawers.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A box-shaped storage compartment without a lid that slides in and out of a desk, chest or other piece of furniture: the top drawer of the dresser.
  2. (in plural, dated) Underpants or knickers.
  3. A person who draws pictures or designs; a draughtsman.
  4. A person who writes a cheque or bill of exchange.
  5. (archaic) A person who draws and serves drink in a tavern; a tapster.

Word family

  • drawerful
  • chest of drawers
  • top drawer
  • hewers of wood and drawers of water

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b 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 Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  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.
Cite this entry

“Drawer.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/drawer. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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