fuller English · revision 39628

+ Merriam-Webster gives the cloth worker and the grooving tool separate entries, with different origins.^(MWU 2024) The OED likewise treats the tool as a noun of uncertain origin, distinct from the older noun.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈfʊ.lə/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈfʊ.ləɹ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ {{homograph|1|cloth worker}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=Old English, Will of Æthelgifu|origins=la fullō}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The cloth worker is [[inh|enm|fullere]], [[inh|ang|fullere]],^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) [[bor|la|fullō|t=fuller]], with its ending altered to the English agent suffix [[-er]].^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) The Latin noun is of unknown origin.^(OED 2026)^(ODE 2010)^(SOED 2002) In Middle English the word was reinforced by [[xno|fuller]], a variant of [[m|xno|fulour]], from the verb behind modern [[full]] in the sense of treating cloth.^(OED 2026) The OED compares [[dum|voller]] and [[gml|vuller]], and notes an isolated Old English [[m|ang|fulwa]], perhaps a separate, earlier borrowing of the Latin word.^(OED 2026) Etymonline notes that the native English word was [[walker]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person whose trade is fulling cloth, cleansing and thickening it by beating or treading: Old English, in the will of Æthelgifu.^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) In the Old English Gospels the word translates the fuller of Mark 9:3.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Johnson (1755) defined a fuller as one whose trade is to cleanse cloth, quoting Mark 9:3: "so as no fuller on earth can whiten them".^(Johnson 1755) The word was common as a surname from the early 13th century, alongside forms of the Anglo-Norman word such as ''le Folur'' (1255).^(OED 2026) ''Fuller's earth'', a clay used to cleanse cloth, is recorded from the 1520s.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) With the end of the trade the word is now chiefly historical.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – a person who fulls cloth.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * 1221 – as a surname, ''Reginald fullere''.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1520s – ''fuller's earth''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # (chiefly historical) A person whose trade is [[full|alt=fulling]] [[cloth]], cleaning and thickening it by beating, pressing or treading.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fuller's earth]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|grooving tool}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=derivation|attested=1587, Oxfordshire household inventory}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The grooving tool is of uncertain origin.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010) The OED suggests it was formed [[af|en|full|-er]], although it finds the development of meaning unclear,^(OED 2026) and Klein derives it from ''full'' in the sense "to make full".^(Klein 1966) The American Heritage Dictionary thinks it may come from ''full'' in the sense "to pleat",^(AHD 2024) while Merriam-Webster and Collins derive it, probably or perhaps, from the surname Fuller.^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023) The verb was formed from the noun.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A tool for making a groove in metal, usually used as a pair of top and bottom tools: 1587, in an Oxfordshire household inventory.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) The Shorter Oxford dates the noun to the mid-19th century and the verb to the early 19th century,^(SOED 2002) and Merriam-Webster dates the tool to about 1864.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From 1796 the word also named the groove made by the tool, especially in a horseshoe,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) and since 1809 it has been a verb, to shape metal with a fuller.^(OED 2026) In Yorkshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and Herefordshire dialect the fuller was the farrier's tool for the nail groove of a horseshoe, and the groove itself;^(Wright 1898) in Yorkshire the verb also meant to crimp linen or to gather fabric in pleats.^(Wright 1898)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1587 – a tool for making grooves in metal.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1796 – a groove in metal, especially in a horseshoe.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1809 – verb, to shape or groove metal with a fuller.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1880 – verb, to crimp linen.^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[blacksmith|alt=blacksmith's]] tool with a rounded edge, used for making [[groove|alt=grooves]] in hot metal or for spreading it.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A groove made by such a tool, as in a [[horseshoe]] or along the blade of a [[sword]] or [[bayonet]].^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To shape or groove metal with a fuller.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[full]]

+ * [[foil]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}