Etymograph

English

builder

Builder comes from Middle English byldere ‘a builder’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *buþlijan.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*buþlijan1reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150bytlan1‘to build’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bylden1‘to erect, build, or create’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500byldere1‘a builder’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1987builder1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English builder
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1987, Proceedings: “To cut coding time and to insure maintainability of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*buþlijanWiktionary, English builderreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150bytlanWiktionary, English builder‘to build’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500byldenWiktionary, English builder‘to erect, build, or create’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500byldereWiktionary, English builder‘a builder’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1987builderWiktionary, English builder. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1987, Proceedings: “To cut coding time and to insure maintainability of…”

Equivalent to build + -er

Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to become’

Proto-Germanic *buþlą

Proto-West Germanic *buþlijan ‘to build’

Old English byldan

Middle English bilden

English build

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *buþlijan

Today it means

noun One who builds or constructs things.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “builder”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *buþlijan / builder

Shirt and support for this word