Where does “sower” come from?
Sower comes from English sow plus the agent suffix -er, derived from Old French -er, from Latin -āre (infinitive ending) and -ārius (agent noun suffix), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sew- meaning to sow or plant seeds.
sower (English): One who or that which sows; Obsolete form of sour
Definitions
- One who or that which sows; Obsolete form of sour
Ancestry of “sower”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | sowere | One who sows or spreads seed |
| 2 | Old English | sāwere | a sower |
| 3 | Old English | -ere | masculine agent suffix, originally applied only... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -ārī | -er |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -ārijaz | -er |
| 6 | Latin | -ārius | er |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | *-āzios | Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals) |