printer
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Pronunciation
- IPA: UK /ˈprɪn.tə/, US /ˈprɪn.t̬ɚ/[1]
Etymology
It is formed from print and -er.[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
A signet or seal: the early 15th century in Etymonline.[2]
Semantic evolution
A person whose business is printing books is from about 1500,[2] 1504 in the OED, and anyone who prints from 1567.[3] A mechanical printing device is from 1859, first in telegraphy,[2][3] a cotton cloth for printing on from 1864,[3] and the computer printer from 1946.[2][3] The Printers' Bible (about 1702) has “printers” for “princes” in Psalm 119:161, so that it reads “Printers have persecuted me without a cause”.[2]
Timeline
- early 15th century – a seal.[2]
- 1504 – a printer of books.[3]
- 1859 – a printing telegraph.[2][3]
- 1864 – a printing cloth.[3]
- 1946 – a computer printer.[2][3]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A person or business engaged in printing.
- A machine or device that prints.
- (computing) An output device that prints on paper.
- A machine for making photographic prints from negatives.
Word family
- printerlike
- printery
- teleprinter
- impact printer
- job printer
- laser printer
- line printer
- printer's devil
Related words
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press