shaver

Etymology

It is formed from Middle English shaven + -er, from the verb shave.^[2][3][4][5] The verb goes back to Old English sceafan (“to scrape, shave, pare away”).^[6][2] Green's Dictionary of Slang explains the sense "fellow, youngster" as one old enough to shave, but also notes Romani chavo (“boy”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who shaves with a razor, a barber: about 1425, in a Nominale.^[2][4] The Middle English Dictionary also records it for a dental scraping instrument in a translation of Chauliac of about 1425.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the barber, the word passed in the 16th century to one who "shaves" others of their money: a plunderer or extortioner (1534 to 1823), with cunning shaver for a swindler.^[2][7] An American sense is recorded from 1813;^[2] the compound note-shaver, one who discounts promissory notes at an exorbitant rate, a usurer, follows in 1816.^[2][3] From 1592, in Marlowe's Jew of Malta, it was a familiar word for a fellow or chap, and mad shaver was 17th-century slang for a roisterer;^[2][6][7] the sense narrowed to a youngster, now usually young shaver or little shaver.^[2][8] Johnson (1755) gave three senses: a barber, a man closely attentive to his own interest, and a robber.^[9] As a tool, a shaver is recorded from 1558,^[2] and in the 20th century the word came to mean chiefly a small electric razor.^[2][5][8] In Scotland and Ireland a shaver was still a barber.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – one who shaves with a razor, a barber.^[2][4]
• 1534 – a plunderer or extortioner (obsolete by 1823).^[2]
• 1558 – a shaving tool; now an electric razor.^[2]
• 1592 – a fellow, a chap; later a youngster.^[2][7]
• 1611 – mad shaver, a roisterer (obsolete by 1664).^[2]
• 1885 – one who shaves hoops.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An electric razor.^[8][2][5]
2. A person or thing that shaves.^[8][3][2]
3. (informal) A youngster, especially a boy; often young shaver: As a young shaver he sold newspapers on the corner.^[8][2]
4. A worker or machine that shaves or trims material such as hides or hoops.^[3][2]
5. (obsolete) One who drives hard bargains; an extortioner or swindler.^[8][3][2]

Related words

• shave
• shaving

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
8. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ 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)