packer

Etymology

It is formed from English pack + -er,^[2][3][4][5] first as pakker, recorded as a surname from the mid-13th century.^[3] The OED compares Medieval Latin paccator (“a person who packs”), recorded in British sources from 1275, Anglo-Norman pakker, Middle Dutch packer and German Packer.^[2] The verb pack comes from the noun, which is apparently from Middle Dutch pac (“bundle”), cognate with Middle Low German pak, of unknown further origin; the OED does not rule out that the Dutch and Low German words were borrowed from Middle English.^[2] Etymonline thinks the noun was taken from the wool traders of Flanders.^[3] The sense of a person who packs a jury or shuffles cards dishonestly is formed on pack in the sense to arrange fraudulently, which the OED and the Shorter Oxford enter under its own heading.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who packs goods in bundles for transport: the middle of the 14th century, in Etymonline;^[3] the OED's first record, from 1450 in the Rolls of Parliament, is of an official who packed or supervised the packing of goods for export liable to customs.^[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to the 14th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From the official packer of goods for export the word widened by 1598 to anyone who packs things, and to a firm whose business is packing goods.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined a packer as one who binds up bales for carriage.^[6] In North America, Australia and New Zealand a packer was also a person who carried goods on pack animals (1694), a porter carrying a pack on the back (1871), and in Australia and North America the pack animal itself (1875).^[2][7] Machines for packing are called packers from 1846,^[2] by 1890 in Etymonline,^[3] and since 1870 a packer has also been a device that seals off a space in an oil well.^[2] The packer who stacked cards or juries is recorded from 1586, and in the 18th century it could mean a plotter or conspirator.^[2][4] The Green Bay Packers, the American football team, were named in 1919 after the Indian Packing Company, a meat-canning firm that paid for their first kit.^[3]

Timeline

• mid-14th century – one who packs goods for transport.^[3]
• 1450 – an official in charge of packing goods for export.^[2]
• 1586 – one who packs cards or a jury fraudulently.^[2]
• 1598 – anyone who packs things; a packing company.^[2]
• 1694 – one who carries goods on pack animals.^[2]
• 1846 – a machine for packing things.^[2]
• 1870 – a sealing device in an oil well.^[2]
• 1875 – a pack animal.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person or company that packs goods for transport, storage or sale, especially a wholesaler who processes and packs food: She worked as a packer in a fruit warehouse.^[5][2][4]
2. A machine for packing things.^[2][5]
3. A device placed in an oil well to seal off a space and stop the flow of oil, gas or water.^[2]
4. (chiefly North American and Australian) A person who carries goods on pack animals or on the back; also, a pack animal.^[2][7]
5. A person who packs a jury or other body dishonestly.^[4][2]
6. (archaic) A conspirator or plotter.^[5][2][4]

Related words

• pack
• package
• meatpacker

References

1. ^ a b 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com