dealer English · revision 7008

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1000}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈdiːlə(ɹ)/ ''(UK)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English delere, from Old English [[m|ang|dǣlere|t=divider, distributor; agent]], from [[m|ang|dǣlan|t=to divide]] (see [[deal]]) and [[-er]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One who divides, distributes or delivers; also an agent or negotiator: about 1000.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The player who deals the cards is from about 1600,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and one whose business is buying and selling goods, a trader, from the 1610s (1611 in the OED).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) One who acts in a specified way towards others, as a ''plain dealer'', is a 16th-century sense now obsolete.^(OED 1989) A seller of illegal drugs is recorded by 1920.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – a distributor; an agent.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – a card dealer.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1611 – a trader.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1920 – a drug dealer.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person or company that buys and sells a particular kind of goods: ''an antiques dealer''.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+ # A person who sells illegal [[drug|alt=drugs]].^(Etymonline)^(COED 2004)

+ # The player who deals the cards in a game.^(AHD)^(COED 2004)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dealership]]

+ * [[newsdealer]]

+ * [[subdealer]]

+ * [[wheeler-dealer]]

+ * [[dealer's choice]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[deal]]

+ * [[ordeal]]

+ * [[dole]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}