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Etymology and origin of the English word ringer

Barnhart separates the bell-ringer from ringer in dead ringer,[1][2] and the OED and Merriam-Webster enter the ringer of quoits and horseshoes, from ring "circle", on its own.[3][4]

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɹɪŋə(ɹ)/[5]

ringer1 one who rings a bell

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1425 Book of Foundation of Saint Bartholomew's
Ultimate origin
Old English hringan
Etymology tree of ringer1
inherited borrowed derived
English ring
English ringer

Etymology

The bell-ringer is formed from English ring + -er, from the verb meaning to sound a bell,[3][6][1][7] first as Middle English ringer, from ringen.[4][1] The verb ring is from Old English hringan (“to cause a bell to sound”), probably of imitative origin.[7] The OED compares Icelandic hringjari, Old Swedish ringiare, Swedish ringare and Danish ringer, all meaning a person who makes something ring.[3] A surname, Ringere, is recorded in 1207, but the OED notes that it may instead mean a maker of rings.[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who rings bells: about 1425, in the Book of Foundation of Saint Bartholomew's.[3][1] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century, as a person employed to ring church or processional bells.[7]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes an early 13th-century text with belle ringestre, a nun who rang the convent bell.[7] Johnson (1755) defined ringer only as "he who rings".[8] In the 19th century the word passed from people to machines: a device for ringing a bell (1873), and one that makes a ringing sound, especially on a telephone (1899).[3][4] In Australia and New Zealand a ringer was an expert from 1848, and since 1871 the fastest shearer in a shed;[3][9] Etymonline dates "expert" only to 1918.[7] The OED is unsure where these senses come from, and suggests the Yorkshire dialect ringer, something superlatively good;[3][10] the Oxford Dictionary of English takes the Australian sense "something excellent" from that dialect word.[11]

Timeline

  • 1207 – the surname Ringere.[1][3]
  • c. 1425 – a person who rings bells.[3][1]
  • 1848 – Australian and New Zealand, an expert.[3]
  • 1871 – the fastest shearer in a shed.[3][9][7]
  • 1873 – a device for ringing a bell.[3]
  • 1891 – Australian, something superlatively good.[3]
  • 1899 – a device that rings, especially on a telephone.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who rings a bell, especially a bell-ringer in a church.[4][3][6]
  2. A device that rings, or that makes a telephone bell ring.[4][3][6]
  3. (Australia, New Zealand) The fastest shearer in a shed; an expert.[3][9]

Word family

  • bell-ringer

ringer2 fraudulent substitute, double

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1858
Ultimate origins
Old English hringEnglish -er
Etymology tree of ringer2
inherited borrowed derived
English ring
English ringer

Etymology

The fraudulent substitute is probably formed from English ring + -er in the slang sense of “ring in”, to substitute or exchange coins, hats and the like fraudulently, recorded in Britain from 1812.[1][2][7] Barnhart associates that phrase with “ring the changes” in the slang sense of passing counterfeit money in various ways, a pun on the bell-ringers' phrase for going through all the variations in a peal of bells (1614).[1][7] The OED enters these senses under the same word as the bell-ringer.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who fraudulently substitutes one thing for another: 1858, in the American Freemason.[3] Barnhart dates the phrase be a (dead) ringer for to 1891 in American English, from the racing slang ringer, a horse entered in a race fraudulently.[1][2]

Semantic evolution

In American racing slang a ringer was a fast horse entered in a race in place of a slow one, to win bets;[7][4] the OED records it from 1885, also of athletes brought in to give a team an unfair advantage.[3] Since anyone who was a ringer had to look like the one replaced, the word came to mean a person or thing that looks very like another, from 1878, especially in dead ringer, recorded from 1891.[3][7][1] In British slang since 1965 a ringer is also a criminal who changes the identity of stolen cars.[3]

Timeline

  • 1614 – ring the changes, to go through the variations in a peal of bells.[1]
  • 1812 – ring in, to substitute fraudulently.[1][7]
  • 1858 – a person who fraudulently substitutes one thing for another.[3]
  • 1878 – a person or thing closely resembling another.[3]
  • 1885 – a horse or athlete fraudulently substituted in a competition.[3]
  • 1891 – dead ringer.[1][7]
  • 1965 – British, a criminal who changes the identity of stolen vehicles.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A horse or player entered in a contest under a false name or record, especially a more skilled one brought in to win: The club was fined for fielding a ringer in the final.[4][3][6]
  2. A person or thing that looks very like another; a double, often in dead ringer: He is a dead ringer for his grandfather.[4][3]
  3. (British slang) A criminal who disguises the identity of stolen vehicles.[3]

ringer3 encircling throw

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1825 Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language
Ultimate origin
Old English hring
Etymology tree of ringer3
inherited borrowed derived
English ring
English ringer

Etymology

The throw that encircles the pin is probably formed from English ring + -er partly from the noun meaning a circle and partly from the verb meaning to encircle;[3][6] Etymonline derives it from the verb,[7] and Merriam-Webster from ring with -er.[4] The noun ring is from Old English hring (“circlet, anything circular”).[7] The OED compares the earlier “hog ringer”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In curling, a stone lying within the circle drawn round the tee: 1825, in Jamieson's Scottish dictionary, a sense now obsolete.[3]

Semantic evolution

In quoits and horseshoe pitching a ringer is a quoit or horseshoe that lands round the pin, or such a throw: the OED and Merriam-Webster record it from 1834,[3][4] Etymonline from 1863, first in quoits and then in horseshoes.[7] In Northumberland it was a quoit thrown so that it fell with the pin through it.[10] Other uses name something that runs or works in a circle or puts rings on things: a fox that runs in a circle when hunted (1832),[3] a person who rings birds (1909),[3][6] and in Australia a stockman or drover (1909), which the Oxford Dictionary of English takes from ring in the sense of turning cattle back on themselves.[3][11] Naval and air-force slang has had two-ringer and the like for officers, after the rings on their sleeves, since 1918.[3]

Timeline

  • 1825 – curling, a stone lying within the circle (now obsolete).[3]
  • 1832 – a fox that runs in a circle when hunted.[3]
  • 1834 – in quoits and horseshoes, a throw that encircles the pin.[3][4] Etymonline dates it to 1863.[7]
  • 1909 – Australian, a stockman or drover; a person who rings birds.[3]
  • 1918 – slang, a naval or air-force officer of a rank shown by sleeve rings.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. In quoits or horseshoes, a throw that lands so that it encircles the peg, or the quoit or horseshoe so thrown.[12][4][3]
  2. A person who puts rings on things, especially one who rings birds.[4][3][6]
  3. (Australia) A stockman or drover.[3][11]

Word family

  • hog ringer
  • ring
  • ring in
  • ring the changes

Usage notes

The OED also has a ringer meaning a long iron bar or crowbar, of uncertain origin, perhaps the same word as the bell-ringer;[3] it is recorded in Cheshire dialect.[10] Ringer's solution, a physiological saline, is named after the English physician Sydney Ringer (1834–1910).[3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ 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 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  10. ^ a b c 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)
  11. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Ringer.” Etymologically, 2 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/ringer. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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