Etymologically
Log in

follower

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 06:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈfɒləʊə(ɹ)/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English folwer, also folower,[2][3] inherited from Old English folgere (“retainer, servant, disciple; successor”),[4][2][5][6] formed from Old English folgian (“to follow”) + -ere, the source of follow and -er.[2][5][7] Old English also had a female form, fylgestre.[3] Similar agent nouns from the same verb are Old Frisian folgere, Middle Dutch volgher (now volger), Middle Low German volger, Old High German folgari (now Folger), Old Norse fylgjari, Swedish följare and Danish følger.[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who accompanies another as an attendant, servant or companion: Old English, in King Ælfred's translation of Boethius.[8][6] Old English also used it for a disciple, a successor and someone walking behind another,[8][6] and in the laws for a freeman without a home of his own who served in another's household.[6][9][10]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word also meant an imitator or devotee, as in the Wycliffite Bible's "Be ye my followers" (1 Corinthians 11:1),[3] a sense the OED records from 1398 to 1819,[8] and a pursuer from about 1450.[8] In Scots law a follower was a plaintiff (1397–1609).[8] The agricultural sense, a young animal that still follows its mother, appears in 1424 and survives in Scotland, northern and south-western England, Wales, Ireland and Australia;[8] the EDD records it from Cumberland, north Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, together with lean cattle that follow the fattening ones, the lead horse of a team of four in Dorset, and the second boat of a Cornish pilchard fishery.[11] Johnson (1755) gave first "one who comes after another".[12] From 1714 a follower was also a suitor, especially a man who called on a female servant, now historical.[8][13] Newer senses are an enthusiast of a sport or hobby (1814), a player in Australian Rules football (1876), the partner who follows the lead in dancing (1933), and someone who follows an account on social media (2006).[8][13]

Timeline

  • Old English – attendant, servant; disciple; successor; one who follows behind.[8][6]
  • 1397 – Scots law, a plaintiff (to 1609).[8]
  • 1398 – an imitator (to 1819).[8]
  • 1424 – a young animal following its mother.[8]
  • c. 1450 – a pursuer.[8]
  • 1714 – an admirer or suitor, especially of a servant.[8]
  • 1814 – an enthusiast of a sport or pastime.[8]
  • 1876 – a player in Australian Rules football.[8]
  • 1933 – in partner dancing, the one who follows the lead.[8]
  • 2006 – a follower on social media.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who accepts the teachings or leadership of another; a disciple or adherent: a follower of Confucius.[13][2][8]
  2. An attendant, servant or retainer.[13][2][8]
  3. A supporter or fan of a team, sport or pastime.[13][8]
  4. A person who subscribes to the posts of another on social media.[13][8]
  5. A person or thing that comes after another; a successor.[8][12]
  6. In partner dancing, the dancer who follows the other's lead.[8]
  7. (Australian Rules football) A player with no fixed position who follows the play; a ruckman.[8]
  8. (dialect) A young animal that still follows its mother.[8][11]
  9. (dated) A male admirer, especially one who courted a female servant.[13][2][8]

Word family

  • followership
  • camp follower

Usage notes

Dictionary.com compares follower with adherent and partisan: a follower often has a personal tie to the leader or a submissive allegiance, an adherent actively champions a person or a view, and a partisan is usually a prejudiced supporter of a party, though in the Second World War the word also named members of resistance groups.[14]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c 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)
  4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer
  10. ^ Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  11. ^ a b 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)
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  14. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House