Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “follower” come from?

Follower comes from Middle English folwer, from Old English folgere, combining Old English folg- with the agent suffix -ere, from Proto-Germanic -ārijaz, ultimately derived from Latin -arius and Proto-Indo-European pleh₁-.

follower (English): One who follows, comes after another; Something...

Definitions

  1. One who follows, comes after another; Something...

Ancestry of “follower”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishfolwer—
2Old Englishfolgerefollower, attendant, disciple
3Old Englishfolġian—
4Proto-West Germanicfolgēnto follow
5Proto-Germanicfulgānąto follow
6Proto-Germanicfullazfull; the whole, the entire
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpl̥h₁nósfull
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpleh₁-to fill

Words derived from “follower”

  • followership
  • Christfollower
  • volyer
  • followers
  • follower
  • followers
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pleh₁- →