Etymologically
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dyer

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:34. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈdaɪə/[1]
  • US: /ˈdaɪɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English deier, also spelled dyere, degher and dighere,[2][3] formed from Middle English deien (“to dye”) + -ere,[2][3][4][5][6] the agent noun of dye; the OED posits an Old English type *déagere.[4] The Middle English verb is from Old English dēagian (“to dye, colour”),[2][7][5] formed from dēag (“colour, hue, dye”).[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded first in surnames: Henr. le Deghar in 1260, Rob. le Deyare in 1275.[2] Etymonline likewise dates the surname to the mid 13th century.[5] As an ordinary noun it appears in a painting recipe perhaps from before 1350, which mentions argol, a thing that dyers dye with.[2] The OED's first record is from 1369, in the Memorials of London.[4]

Semantic evolution

The meaning, one whose trade is dyeing cloth and other materials, has hardly changed since Middle English.[4][2][5] Chaucer names a dyere among the guildsmen of the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, "A webbe, a dyere, and a tapycer".[2][8] Several plants that give dyes are named in the possessive, such as dyer's greenweed and dyer's rocket (weld).[6] From 1865 the word was also the name of a variety of grape.[4]

Timeline

  • 1260 – as a surname, Henr. le Deghar.[2]
  • perhaps before 1350 – one who dyes, in a painting recipe.[2]
  • 1369 – a person whose trade is dyeing cloth.[4]
  • 1865 – a variety of grape.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person whose work is to dye cloth, leather, fur or other materials: The dyer hung the blue wool out to dry.[3][4][6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  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. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  8. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme