Etymologically
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skater

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 23:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈskeɪ.tə(ɹ)/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English skate + -er, an agent noun from the verb.[2][3][4] The verb skate comes from the noun,[3][2] which is from Dutch schaats, from Middle Dutch schaetse;[3][2][5] English took the Dutch singular for a plural and made a new singular skate.[3][2][6] The Middle Dutch word is from Old Northern French escache (“stilt”),[2][3][5] and Etymonline and Ayto trace that to Frankish *skakkja (“stilt”).[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who skates on ice: 1700, in Samuel Parker's Six Philosophical Essays.[2][3][8][9]

Semantic evolution

The word followed its verb, which is recorded from 1696 for gliding over ice on skates;[2] roller skates are recorded from 1876, and skater was also used of a skateboarder by 1977 according to Etymonline.[2][3][9] The long-legged bugs that run on the surface of still water are called skaters or pond skaters (the latter from 1895);[2][8][5] in Warwickshire dialect a skater was a fly that darts in zigzags over water.[10] In American underworld slang of the 1930s a skater was a legless beggar who moved about on a wheeled board.[11]

Timeline

  • 1700 – one who skates on ice.[2][3][8]
  • 1895 – pond skater, a water bug that skims on the surface.[2]
  • 1931 – a legless beggar on a wheeled board (US underworld slang).[11]
  • 1977 – a skateboarder.[3][9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who skates, on ice or on roller skates: The skaters circled the frozen pond until dusk.[2][8][5]
  2. A person who rides a skateboard.[5][2]
  3. A water strider or pond skater.[8][5]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  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)
  11. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com