giver

Etymology

It is formed from English give + -er, Middle English giver, also givere.^[2][3][4][5] The OED compares Old High German kebari (German Geber), Middle Dutch gevere, Dutch gever and Danish giver.^[2] Old English had other agent nouns, giefend and giefa.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who gives, a bestower or donor: the OED dates the sense to before 1300, with its first quotation from the Ayenbite of Inwyt (1340);^[2] Etymonline gives the mid-14th century^[3] and Merriam-Webster the 14th century.^[4] Stratmann cites giver from Langland and yevere from the Ayenbite.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to that of the verb.^[2] The word has often been the second part of compounds with the thing given, such as alms-giver, law-giver and light-giver.^[2][4] From the late 19th century it was also used with adverbs, as in giver-out.^[2][5] Johnson (1755) glossed it as donor, bestower, distributer and granter, quoting Milton.^[7] The Pauline phrase a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7) is quoted by Merriam-Webster.^[4] American gay and prison slang used giver for the active partner (1972).^[8]

Timeline

• 1340 – one who gives, a donor, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt.^[2]
• 1755 – Johnson defines it as donor, bestower, granter.^[7]
• c. 1881 – with adverbs, as giver-in, giver-out.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who gives; a donor or contributor: She was a generous giver to the local hospital.^[4][2]
2. Often in compounds, one who gives the thing named: almsgiver, caregiver, lawgiver.^[4][2][5]

Word family

• almsgiver
• caregiver
• lawgiver
• thanksgiver
• Indian giver

Related words

• give
• gift

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ 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.
8. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com