Where does “screwdriver” come from?
Screwdriver is derived from Middle English screw, a tool for fastening, combined with driver to denote an instrument that drives or turns the screw.
screwdriver (English): A hand or machine tool which engages with the...
Definitions
- A hand or machine tool which engages with the...
Ancestry of “screwdriver”, step by step
screwdriver traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English screw
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | screw | A device that has a helical function; The motion... |
| 2 | Middle English | screw | — |
| 3 | Old French | escroue | nut, cylindrical socket, screwhole; scroll, strip... |
| 4 | Latin | scrofa | sow |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kerbʰ- | to scratch, scrape |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)ker- | to cut off; to turn, bend |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | sek- | to cut, cut off, sever |