warmer English · revision 39718

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=a1595, R. Southwell, Saint Peter's Complaint}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈwɔːmə/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈwɔɹmɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was formed in English as an agent noun from the verb [[warm]] and the suffix [[-er]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person who warms: before 1595, in Robert Southwell's poem ''Saint Peter's Complaint'',^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) the 1590s in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) the OED labels this sense poetic.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From 1812 the word was used of a device for warming or keeping things warm,^(OED 2026) often in compounds such as ''foot-warmer'', ''plate-warmer'' and ''leg warmer'',^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline) and in ''bench-warmer'', a substitute player who seldom plays.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster records industrial senses, a worker who heats pipes or rivets and one who works scrap rubber in a warming mill.^(MWU 2024) From 1960 ''warmer-up'' was used of something that warms a person up, especially a preliminary act that puts an audience in a receptive mood.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1595 – a person who warms.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1812 – a device for warming.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1960 – ''warmer-up'', a preliminary act.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[device]] for warming something or keeping it warm, often in compounds: ''a bottle warmer'', ''leg warmers''.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (poetic) A person who warms.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A worker who heats materials such as [[rivet|alt=rivets]] or rubber in manufacturing.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bedwarmer]]

+ * [[handwarmer]]

+ * [[warmer-upper]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[warm]]

+ * [[warmth]]

+ * [[bench-warmer]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}