Etymologically
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dryer

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:39. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈdɹaɪə/[1]
  • US: /ˈdɹaɪɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English dry + -er, an agent noun from the verb.[2][3][4] Drier is the same word: the OED calls it the analogical spelling, but finds the spelling with -y- more frequent in the technical senses of a drying substance and a drying machine.[2] Most dictionaries now list the two spellings as variants.[4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A thing that removes moisture: 1528, in Thomas Paynell's translation of Arnaldus de Villa Nova.[2][4] Etymonline records the word earlier, in the late 15th century, for a person who dried and bleached cloth, and as a surname, Dryere, from the early 14th century.[3] The Shorter Oxford dates the sense "a person engaged in drying" to Middle English.[6]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) knew the word only as something that absorbs moisture, quoting Temple on a plant that is "a great dryer and opener".[7] In the 19th century it took on technical senses: a substance mixed into oil paints, oils and inks to make them dry quickly (1840),[2][6] and a machine for removing moisture.[2][3] Etymonline dates the machine sense to 1848, when drying-machine had been in use since 1819;[3] the OED's first example is from 1874.[2] From 1937, in Hemingway, a dryer could also be a hairdryer,[2] and in everyday use it now most often means a clothes dryer.[4][8] In Cornish dialect a dryer was a small glass of spirits taken after drinking beer.[9]

Timeline

  • 1528 – a thing that removes moisture.[2][4]
  • 1755 – Johnson defines it as that which absorbs moisture.[7]
  • 1840 – a substance added to paints and inks to speed drying.[2]
  • 1848 – a drying machine (Etymonline).[3]
  • 1874 – a mechanical apparatus for removing moisture (OED).[2]
  • 1881 – a person engaged in drying, as in fruit-dryer.[2]
  • 1937 – a hairdryer.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A machine that dries things, especially a tumble dryer for laundry or a hairdryer: Put the towels in the dryer.[4][8][2]
  2. A substance added to paint, varnish or ink to make it dry faster.[4][8][2]
  3. A person or thing that dries.[8][2]

Word family

  • blow-dryer
  • washer-dryer

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ 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)