Etymologically
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toaster

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:37. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /ˈtoʊ̯s.tɚ/, /ˈtɔʊ̯s.tɚ/[1]
  • UK: /ˈtəʊ̯s.təː/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English toast + -er,[2][3][4][5] first as an agent noun from the verb meaning "to brown with heat".[3] The person who drinks or proposes a toast is from the verb of drinking to someone's health,[3][2][4] and the reggae performer from the verb for chanting over records.[2] The verb toast is from Middle English tosten,[3][5] from Old French toster (“to toast, grill”),[3][5] from Late Latin tostō (“to roast”),[5] which Etymonline calls Vulgar Latin, from tostus, the past participle of torreō (“to dry, parch”),[5][3] from Proto-Indo-European *ters- (“to dry”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who toasts something by the fire: 1582, in Richard Stanyhurst's translation of Virgil.[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1580s[3] and Merriam-Webster to 1582.[5]

Semantic evolution

From 1695 the word was used of an implement for toasting, a toasting-fork, and humorously of a rapier.[2] From 1702 a toaster was also someone who proposes or joins in a drinking toast,[2] a sense Johnson (1755) gave as "he who toasts", quoting Prior's "We simple toasters take delight".[6] The electric appliance for toasting bread is recorded from 1913,[2][3] and the toaster oven by 1957.[3] In the 1970s the word gained new senses from African-American and Jamaican speech: a reciter of rhyming narrative toasts (1974), and in reggae a DJ who chants or talks rhythmically over a record (1976).[2][7][5] In US slang it has also meant a flamethrower.[7]

Timeline

  • 1582 – a person who toasts something by the fire.[2][5]
  • 1695 – a toasting-fork; humorously, a rapier.[2]
  • 1702 – a person who proposes or joins in a toast.[2] Etymonline dates this use by 1704.[3]
  • 1845 – a bread or cheese that toasts well or badly.[2]
  • 1913 – an electric appliance for toasting bread.[2][3]
  • 1974 – a reciter of a narrative toast.[2]
  • 1976 – in reggae, a DJ who chants over a rhythm track.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An electric appliance for making toast, usually with slots into which slices of bread are put: She dropped two slices into the toaster.[8][5][9]
  2. A person or thing that toasts bread or other food, such as a toasting fork.[5][4][2]
  3. A person who proposes or drinks a toast to someone; a toastmaster.[5][4][2]
  4. A reggae DJ or performer who chants or talks rhythmically over recorded music.[9][10][2][7]

Word family

  • toaster oven

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 d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press