fletcher

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fleccher,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French flechier (“arrow-maker”) (also flecher),^[4][5][6] formed from fleche (“arrow”), the source of flèche.^[2][4][7] In Anglo-Norman the word is recorded from 1190–1210, also as a surname.^[8] Hoad and the SOED call the origin of fleche unknown;^[6][7] the AHD says it is Germanic, and Etymonline suggests a Frankish word from Proto-Germanic *fleugika-, comparing Middle Dutch vliecke.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A maker of arrows: the Middle English Dictionary finds it about 1330.^[9] As a surname it is much older: Robert le Flecher in 1203.^[9][5] The OED's first quotation is from the Scottish Acts of James II (1457).^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word sometimes covered a maker of bows as well as arrows,^[4][7] and Johnson (1755) defined it as "a manufacturer of bows and arrows".^[10] In 1529 Thomas More used it for an archer.^[4] Since the bow ceased to be a weapon it has been obsolete except in historical or archaic use,^[4] but Weekley notes that the Fletchers are still a London livery company.^[11] The trade name lives on in the surname Fletcher, common in Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1881.^[12]

Timeline

• 1190–1210 – Anglo-Norman flecher, arrow-maker, also as a surname.^[8]
• 1203 – the surname, Robert le Flecher.^[9]
• c. 1330 – a maker of arrows.^[9]
• 1457 – first quotation in the OED.^[4]
• 1529 – an archer (obsolete).^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (historical) A person who makes or sells arrows, and sometimes bows.

Related words

• fletch
• flèche
• flechette
• archer
• bowyer

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c d Reaney, P. H.; Wilson, R. M. (1991), A Dictionary of English Surnames, 3rd ed., London: Routledge
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Coates, Richard; McClure, Peter, eds. (2016), The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, Oxford: Oxford University Press