starter

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈstɑː.tə(ɹ)/ (UK); /ˈstɑɹ.tɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English stertour, an agent noun from start with the suffix -er.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who or that which starts; an instigator: about 1400 in Etymonline, late Middle English in the SOED.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

One who runs away, a coward (1536), is obsolete.^[4] The official who gives the signal to start a race is by the 1620s,^[2] and a competitor who starts in a race from 1818.^[4] The mechanical sense, a device for starting a machine or engine, is from 1875.^[2] For starters, to begin with, is American colloquial from 1873.^[2][4] A starter set, originally of china, is from 1946, and a starter home from 1976.^[2] The first course of a meal is also a starter,^[5] and in American sports a player in the starting line-up, especially a starting pitcher, by 1967.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – an instigator.^[2]
• 1620s – a race official.^[2]
• 1818 – a competitor.^[4]
• 1873 – for starters.^[2]
• 1875 – an engine starter.^[2]
• 1976 – starter home.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A device for starting an internal-combustion engine.
2. A person who signals the start of a race, or a competitor who starts.
3. (chiefly British) The first course of a meal; an appetizer.
4. A player who starts a game, especially the first pitcher in baseball.

Word family

• bungstarter
• nonstarter
• self-starter

Related words

• start

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin