fielder

Etymology

It is formed from English field + -er, partly from the noun and partly from the verb.^[2][3] Etymonline takes the first sense from the noun.^[4] The OED notes the surnames Richard le Feldere (1310) and Galfr. le Felder (1327), which may show an earlier use of the word, or may instead mean someone who lived by a field.^[2] Field is from Old English feld (“plain, open land, pasture”).^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person or animal that works in a field: before 1425, in a manuscript of Langland's Piers Plowman, a poem probably composed about 1387.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the early 14th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The farming sense was always rare and had died out by 1909.^[2][3] The modern sense comes from cricket: the OED's first record of a player of the side in the field is from 1824,^[2] while Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to 1832.^[4][6] Before that a cricket fielder was called simply a field (1825) or a fieldsman (1767), and the word was used in baseball by 1868.^[4] In horse racing a fielder was, from 1844, a person who backed the field against the favourite, and later a bookmaker.^[2][3]

Timeline

• before 1425 – a person or animal working in a field (obsolete by 1909).^[2]
• 1824 – in cricket, a player of the side that is not batting.^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to 1832.^[4][6]
• 1844 – in horse racing, a person who backs the field; later a bookmaker.^[2]
• 1868 – in baseball.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. In cricket, baseball and similar games, a player of the side that is not batting, whose task is to field the ball.^[7][6][2]
2. A player judged by his or her skill in fielding: She was the best fielder on the team.^[6]
3. (horse racing) A person who backs the field against the favourite; later, a bookmaker.^[2][3]
4. (obsolete, 1425–1909) A person or animal that works in the fields.^[2][3]

Word family

• center fielder
• fielder's choice
• left fielder
• right fielder

Related words

• field
• fieldsman

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins