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hairdresser

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Etymology and origin of the English word hairdresser

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1764
Ultimate origins
Old English hærAnglo-Norman dressour
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English hair
English hairdresser

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈheəˌdresə(r)/[1]
  • US: /ˈherˌdresɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from English hair + dresser,[2][3][4] the second part an agent noun from the verb dress.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person whose business is to dress and cut hair: Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1764,[5] Etymonline to 1770,[3] and the OED's first quotation is from Smollett's Humphry Clinker (1771).[2]

Semantic evolution

Hairdressing is recorded from 1771.[3] The word kept its original sense, but modern dictionaries extend it: Merriam-Webster includes giving beauty treatments, and notes that in British use it can also mean a barber.[5] In Britain the hairdresser's is also the shop itself.[6][5]

Timeline

  • 1764 – a person who dresses and cuts hair.[5] Etymonline dates the word to 1770,[3] the OED to 1771.[2]
  • 1771 – hairdressing.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person whose job is cutting, styling, curling or colouring hair: The hairdresser trimmed her fringe.[6][7][2]
  2. (chiefly British) A hairdresser's shop, or a barber: I'm going to the hairdresser's.[6][5]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Cite this entry

“Hairdresser.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/hairdresser. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·