Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “opener” come from?

Opener comes from English open, influenced by the Old French suffix -er, ultimately deriving from Latin -ārius and Proto-Indo-European -eh₂, which formed agent nouns indicating one who performs an action.

opener (English): A person who opens something; A device that opens...

Definitions

  1. A person who opens something; A device that opens...

Ancestry of “opener”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishopenNot closed; Not physically drawn together,...
2Middle Englishopenopen
3Old Englishopenopen
4Proto-West Germanic*opan—
5Proto-Germanicupanazopen
6Proto-Indo-Europeanupóunder, below
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃ewp-—

Words derived from “opener”

  • eyeopener
  • eye-opener
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃ewp- →