golfer

Etymology

It is formed from English golf + -er, from the verb or the noun golf.^[2][3] Golf itself, recorded in Scotland from 1457, is of obscure origin; it is often taken as an alteration of Middle Dutch colf (“club, stick”),^[3][4][5] but the OED points out that no Scottish form begins with c or k and that golf is mentioned earlier than the Dutch games.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who plays golf: 1721, in A. Ramsay's Ode to Ph——.^[2][3] The word is thus older than the verb golf, which the OED first records in 1805.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline dates the phrase golf widow to 1890, quoting a verse from Golf magazine of that year that pities "a golfer's bride".^[3] From 1911 a golfer was also a kind of cardigan, first recorded in a sales catalogue,^[2] a sense still listed by Collins.^[6]

Timeline

• 1721 – one who plays golf.^[2][3]
• 1911 – a cardigan.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who plays golf: a keen amateur golfer.^[6][5][2]
2. A type of cardigan.^[6][2]

Word family

• nongolfer

Related words

• golf

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins