Etymologically
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supplier

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 03:40. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /səˈplaɪə/[1]

Etymology

It is from English supply + -er.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who provides something needed: 1384, in the Acts of the Parliament of Scotland.[2] SOED and Etymonline instead give "a substitute", from the late 15th century, as the first sense.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

Early senses now obsolete are a helper or supporter (1456 to 1771) and a person who carries out another's duties, a substitute (1491).[2][4] Someone who makes up a deficiency is from 1574.[2] The sense of a firm providing goods became the main one;[2][3] Etymonline dates it by the 1620s.[3] An apparatus that supplies something is from 1823.[2]

Timeline

  • 1384 – a provider of what is needed.[2]
  • 1456 – a helper (obsolete).[2]
  • 1491 – a substitute (obsolete).[2]
  • 1823 – a supplying apparatus.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person or company that provides goods or services, especially to a business.
  2. A country or area that produces a raw material or commodity.

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press