Etymograph

English

terrier

Terrier comes from Old French chien terrier ‘terrier dog’.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chien terrier1‘terrier dog’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2020terrier1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English terrier
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, Paul Bigland, At no point have I felt unsafe...: “One of the LNER dispatch staff is a terrier…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chien terrierWiktionary, English terrier‘terrier dog’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2020terrierWiktionary, English terrier. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, Paul Bigland, At no point have I felt unsafe...: “One of the LNER dispatch staff is a terrier…”

A compound of chien ‘dog’ + terrier ‘of earth’

Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ ‘dog’

Latin canis ‘a dog, a hound (animal)’

Old French chien ‘dog’

Every English word from Old French chien terrier

Today it means

noun A dog from a group of small, lively breeds, originally bred for the hunting of burrowing prey such as rats, rabbits, foxes, and even otters; this original function is reflected in some of their names (e.g. rat terrier).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “terrier”. 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 / Old French chien terrier / terrier

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