gambler

Etymology

The OED takes it as ultimately a derivative or variant of the verb or noun game, formed from English game + -er, and notes that it is recorded earlier than the verb gamble (1775), so that it may have developed first.^[2][3] Etymonline calls it an agent noun from gamble.^[4] Merriam-Webster thinks it probably an alteration of the obsolete gamner or gamener, from the obsolete verb gamen (“to play”), from Middle English gamenen and Old English gamenian, a derivative of gamen (“game, play”).^[5][4] Barnhart leaves open whether gamble comes from gamner, from the verb gamel (“to play games”) (1594), or from gambol, whose influence may explain the intrusive b.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A swindler or cheat, specifically a money-dropper, one who drops a supposedly valuable object and persuades a passer-by to buy it: 1735, in the Proceedings of the Old Bailey, with a note that gambler was one of the modern cant names for a money-dropper.^[2][6] Etymonline dates the word to 1738,^[4] and Barnhart to 1747.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word began as cant: Johnson (1755) called it "a cant word, I suppose, for game or gamester" and defined it as a knave who invites the unwary to play and cheats them.^[7][6] By 1784 it also meant simply a person who plays games for stakes,^[2][5] and Green's Dictionary of Slang notes that the idea of cheating had worn off by the early 19th century;^[6] the OED's last record of the "cheat" sense is from 1824.^[2] From 1838 it was used figuratively of anyone who takes risks in the hope of an advantage,^[2] including a financial speculator.^[5]

Timeline

• 1735 – a swindler or cheat, a money-dropper (obsolete after 1824).^[2][6] Etymonline dates the word to 1738.^[4]
• 1747 – one who plays for money or cheats at games.^[3]
• 1755 – Johnson's "a knave whose practice it is to invite the unwary to game and cheat them".^[7]
• 1775 – the verb gamble, after gambling (1726).^[3]
• 1784 – a person who plays games for stakes or bets on events.^[2][5]
• 1838 – a person who takes risks in hope of an advantage.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who gambles, playing games of chance for money or betting on the outcome of events, especially habitually: a compulsive gambler.^[5][2]
2. A person who takes risks in the hope of gain or success; a speculator.^[5][2]
3. (obsolete) A swindler or sharper who cheats at cards or dice, or a money-dropper (1735–1824).^[2][7][6]

Word family

• nongambler

Related words

• gamble
• game
• gamester
• gambling
• gambol

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
7. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.