Etymograph

English

fowler

Fowler comes from Middle English foulere ‘a catcher or hunter of wildfowl’, from Proto-West Germanic *fugl ‘bird’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- ‘to fly’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plewk-1‘to fly’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pluk-ló-s1uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fuglaz2‘bird’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fugl3‘bird’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fuglārī4reconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150fuglere4
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foulere4‘a catcher or hunter of wildfowl’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611fowler4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *fuglaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *fugl
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *fuglārī
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English fowler
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plewk-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *fuglaz‘to fly’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pluk-ló-sWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *fuglazuncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fuglazWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *fugl‘bird’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fuglWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *fuglārī‘bird’reconstructed
  5. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fuglārīWiktionary, English fowlerreconstructed
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150fuglereWiktionary, English fowler
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500foulereWiktionary, English fowler‘a catcher or hunter of wildfowl’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1611fowlerWiktionary, English fowler. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *plewk- ‘to fly’

fly, flew, flock, flown, flee, floss, flay, 10 more

through Proto-West Germanic *fugl ‘bird’

fogle, 2 more

Today it means

noun A hunter of wildfowl.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fowler”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *fuglaz, Proto-West Germanic *fugl, Proto-West Germanic *fuglārī. 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-Indo-European *plewk- / fowler

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