striker

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈstraɪkə/^[1]

Etymology

It is an agent noun from strike, formed with -er.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A vagabond or wanderer, from strike in the sense to travel or go: the late 14th century, and as a surname from the late 13th century, in Etymonline.^[2] The OED's first quotation, 1393, is for one who roams as a vagrant, comparing German Landstreicher (“vagrant”).^[4]

Semantic evolution

A coiner of money is from the mid-15th century (Scots, 1449 in the OED),^[2][4] a fighter, one who strikes, from the 1580s,^[2][4] and a worker on strike from 1850.^[2] It has been used in various games since the 1690s, and as a position in football by 1963.^[2] Mechanical strikers, such as the hammer that rings a clock bell or the firing pin of a gun, are in modern dictionaries.^[5][1]

Timeline

• 1393 – a vagrant.^[4]
• 1449 – a coiner.^[4]
• 1581 – one who strikes.^[4][3]
• 1850 – a worker on strike.^[2]
• 1963 – a football striker.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A worker who is on strike.
2. (football) An attacking player who plays near the opponents' goal.
3. A part of a device that strikes something, as the clapper of a bell or the firing pin of a gun.
4. A harpoon, or a person who uses one.

Word family

• dolphin striker

Related words

• strike
• stroke

Usage notes

In the English Dialect Dictionary a striker is a blacksmith's assistant who wields the sledgehammer, in northern and Midland counties.^[6] In Lancashire it was also a spectre hound believed to appear when a calamity was at hand.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f 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
6. ^ a b 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)