insider English · revision 39792

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1848, W. Armstrong, Stocks}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * US: /ɪnˈsaɪdɚ/, /ˈɪnsaɪdɚ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was formed in English from [[inside]] and the agent suffix [[-er]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A person within an organization or group, and so one who has special information: 1848, in W. Armstrong's ''Stocks'',^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)^(MWU 2024) originally in reference to the stock markets.^(Etymonline) The Shorter Oxford dates an earlier sense, a passenger travelling inside a coach, to the early 19th century,^(SOED 2002) and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1820–30.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The coach-passenger sense, recorded by the OED from 1854 to 1892, died out with stagecoach travel.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) In American thieves' slang an ''insider'' was a pocket or pocketbook, from 1846.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) The main sense, a member of a group with access to its secrets, kept its link with finance: an ''insider'' in American securities law is an officer or director of a company, or a large shareholder, whose trading in its shares is regulated.^(MWU 2024) The compounds ''insider dealing'' and ''insider trading'' name the illegal use of such knowledge to trade shares.^(Roach et al. 2011)^(SOED 2002) In Australian slang the word has meant a secret informant within an institution such as the police.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1846 – (US slang) a pocket or pocketbook.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1848 – a member of a group, one with special information.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1854 – an inside passenger in a coach.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who belongs to a [[group]] or [[organization]], especially one with access to its confidential [[information]]: ''According to an industry insider, the merger will be announced next week.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (finance) An officer, director or major shareholder of a company, whose dealings in its [[share|alt=shares]] are restricted by law.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (historical) A passenger who travelled inside a coach.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[insider trading]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[inside]]

+ * [[outsider]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}