Etymograph

English

kier

Kier comes from Old Norse ker ‘tub, vessel, goblet’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *kazą.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kazą1‘vessel, vat, tub, barrel’reconstructed
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350ker2‘tub, vessel, goblet’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1934kier2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old Norse ker
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English kier
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1934, Harry Bennett, Do-It-Yourself: “The oil is added to the saturated liquor, which…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kaząWiktionary, Old Norse ker‘vessel, vat, tub, barrel’reconstructed
  2. Old Norsec. 800–1350kerWiktionary, English kier‘tub, vessel, goblet’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1934kierWiktionary, English kier. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1934, Harry Bennett, Do-It-Yourself: “The oil is added to the saturated liquor, which…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *kas- ‘to throw, toss, raise, bring up’

cast, 5 more

Today it means

noun A bleaching vat.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “kier”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old Norse ker. 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-Germanic *kazą / kier

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