homer English · revision 15206
17 Oct 2026, 15:50 by bogdan “en10k b0430: midst … homer” current version
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+ Homer, a home run or homing pigeon, is formed from home; homer, a Hebrew measure, is a Hebrew word.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈhəʊmə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈhoʊmɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+
+ {{homograph|1|home run; homing pigeon}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation, clipping|attested=1868}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The baseball word is short for [[home run]];^(Etymonline) it is [[af|en|home|-er]].^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A home run in baseball: 1868.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ A pigeon trained to fly home from a distance is from 1880.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The verb, to hit a home run, is in the OED and by 1946 in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A homing device for missiles is from 1958.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1868 – a home run.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1880 – a homing pigeon.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)
+ * 1946 – to homer (verb).^(Etymonline)
+ * 1958 – a homing device.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # ''(baseball, informal)'' A [[home run]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # A [[homing pigeon]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ===Verb===
+ # ''(baseball)'' To hit a home run.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)
+
+ {{homograph|2|Hebrew measure}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1530}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The measure is [[bor|hbo|חֹמֶר|tr=ḥōmer]].^(MWU 2024)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A Hebrew measure of capacity: 1530 in Merriam-Webster, 1535 in the OED.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1530 – homer, a measure.^(MWU 2024)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # An ancient Hebrew unit of capacity equal to ten [[ephah|alt=ephahs]] or ten [[bath|alt=baths]].^(AHD)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[home]]
+ * [[home run]]
+ * [[homing]]
+
+ ==Usage notes==
+ The name of the Greek poet Homer, supposed author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', is from [[la|Homērus]], from [[grc|Ὅμηρος|tr=Hómēros]], identical with a Greek word for a hostage.^(Etymonline) In Cornish dialect homer meant homeward (''the homer fields'').^(Wright 1898)
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}