miser

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin miser (“wretched, unfortunate; a wretched person”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} a word that the OED calls of unknown origin.^[2] Barnhart, after Walde and Hofmann, relates it to maestus (“sad”) and maereō (“to grieve”), from Proto-Indo-European *mais-.^[4] De Vaan calls the link only possible and finds no acceptable Proto-Indo-European pedigree, though he compares Tocharian A msär (“difficult”).^[7][3] In post-classical Latin the word also denoted a miser, in a British source from before 1347.^[2] The OED notes that "miserly" is not recorded as an adjectival sense in Latin but may have existed,^[2] and it compares Italian misero (“poor, unfortunate, miserly”) and Spanish mísero (“wretched, miserly”).^[2] Weekley thought that those two probably suggested the adoption of the Latin word.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, of a person, miserly: before 1500, according to the OED the earliest English use.^[2][5][9] The noun is first recorded in 1542, for a wretched person, in Udall's translation of Erasmus's Apophthegmes.^[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

The noun first kept the Latin sense, a miserable person or wretch, which Spenser used in The Faerie Queene,^[10][11] and the sense lasted into the 19th century, as in Scott's The Monastery (1820).^[12][2] The main modern sense, one who hoards wealth, is recorded from about 1560 by Barnhart,^[4] and the OED has it from about 1577.^[2] Etymonline explains it from the supposed unhappiness of such people,^[3] and Johnson (1755) still set the two side by side: a wretched person, a mean fellow, and one who in wealth makes himself miserable by the fear of poverty.^[11] The older sense survives in miserable and misery.^[3] From 1630 the noun could be limited to one thing a person is sparing with,^[2] and in 1715 the verb appears.^[2] Since 1937 miser has also been used without blame, of a vehicle or machine that uses something economically; the OED thinks economizer may have influenced this.^[2] Etymonline notes that German Filz (“miser, literally felt”) recalls the felt slippers worn by misers in caricatures.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1500 – adjective, miserly.^[2]
• 1542 – adjective and noun, miserable; a wretched person.^[2][4][6]
• c. 1560 – a person who hoards money.^[4] The OED's first quotation is from about 1577, in Misogonus.^[2]
• 1630 – a person sparing with a specified thing, in John Taylor.^[2]
• 1715 – verb, to hoard in a miserly way.^[2]
• 1937 – a vehicle or machine that makes economical use of something.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who hoards wealth and lives poorly in order to keep it; a stingy person: The old miser counted his coins by candlelight.^[13][6][2]
2. A person sparing with a particular thing.^[2]
3. A vehicle, machine or other thing that uses something economically.^[2]
4. (obsolete, 1542–1828) A miserable or wretched person.^{[2][5][11][6]}

Verb

1. To hoard or save in a miserly way, often with up.^[2][5]

Adjective

1. (Scottish, poetic) Miserly or parsimonious.^[2]
2. (obsolete, 1542–1612) Miserable, wretched.^[2][5][4]

Word family

• miserly

Related words

• miserable
• misery
• commiserate

Usage notes

The OED also enters two unconnected nouns, both obsolete: a kind of sop made with breadcrumbs (1594–1670), of uncertain origin and probably related to mise, and a boring tool for sinking wells (1842–75), of unknown origin, with a verb for bringing up earth with it (1847–92).^[2] In Scots and Irish dialect the older sense "wretch" was recorded, and the adjective miserly could mean wretched or shabby.^[12]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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 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. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ 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.
12. ^ 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)
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins