stroller

Etymology

It is formed from English stroll + -er, as an agent noun from the verb.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The verb, recorded from about 1600 for roaming without a home, is of uncertain origin.^[4][2] The OED suggests that it may be one of the High German words brought in by soldiers early in the 17th century, comparing German Strolch (“vagabond”) and the obsolete strollen (“to wander as a vagrant”);^[2] the American Heritage Dictionary and Etymonline take Strolch, also "fortuneteller", perhaps from Italian astrologo (“astrologer”), through a dialect form.^[7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An itinerant actor, a strolling player: 1608, in Thomas Dekker's Lanthorne and Candle-light.^[2] Merriam-Webster also gives 1608, and Etymonline dates the sense to about 1600.^[8][4]

Semantic evolution

From 1681 (the 1670s in Etymonline) a stroller was also a vagabond, an itinerant beggar or pedlar, a sense now chiefly Scottish.^[2][4][3] Johnson (1755) defined it only as a vagrant, wanderer or vagabond, quoting Swift.^[9] The English Dialect Dictionary recorded Scottish stroller for a strolling player or showman,^[10] and in South African slang a stroller is a homeless young street child, a special use of the Scottish word for a vagrant, recorded from 1986.^[11][12] The word was also used for a casual traveller or visitor (1741) and a person walking at leisure (1834).^[2][3] The sense of a child's pushchair, especially a collapsible one, appears in a Sears, Roebuck catalogue of 1920;^[2][4] Collins labels it American, Canadian and Australian, the British equivalents being pushchair and buggy.^[13] Later senses include, in the United States, a man's semi-formal daytime jacket (1901) and a casual shoe (1948).^[2]

Timeline

• 1608 – an itinerant actor.^[2][8] Etymonline dates the sense to about 1600.^[4]
• 1681 – a vagabond or itinerant beggar.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1670s.^[4]
• 1741 – a casual traveller or visitor.^[2]
• 1834 – a person walking at leisure.^[2]
• 1901 – a man's semi-formal daytime jacket (US).^[2]
• 1920 – a child's pushchair.^[2][4]
• 1948 – a casual shoe.^[2]
• 1986 – South African slang, a homeless street child.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A light, often folding carriage in which a small child is pushed along; a pushchair or buggy (chiefly US, Canada and Australia).^{[13][7][5][2]}
2. A person who strolls; a leisurely walker: strollers on the seafront.^[7][5]
3. A vagrant or wandering beggar (now chiefly Scottish).^[7][5][2]
4. An itinerant actor; a strolling player.^[7][5][2]
5. (South Africa, slang) A homeless street child.^[11][12]

Related words

• stroll

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c 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 e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
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)
11. ^ a b c A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles, Dictionary Unit for South African English, https://dsae.co.za
12. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins