Etymograph

English

tinker

Tinker comes from Middle English tynkere.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tynkere1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1894tinker1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tinker
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1894, Thomas Hardy: “the broken bureau-lock and tinkered window-pane”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tynkereWiktionary, English tinker
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1894tinkerWiktionary, English tinker. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1894, Thomas Hardy: “the broken bureau-lock and tinkered window-pane”

A compound of tin ‘tin’ + *cere ‘vessel-maker’

Proto-Indo-European *deyh₂- ‘to shine’

Proto-Germanic *tiną ‘tin (metal)’

Old English tin ‘tin’

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

Proto-Germanic *kazą ‘vessel’

Proto-Germanic *kazjô ‘vessel-maker, potter’

Proto-West Germanic *kaʀjō ‘vessel-maker, potter’

Old English *cere ‘vessel-maker’

Every English word from Middle English tynkere

Today it means

noun An itinerant tinsmith and mender of household utensils made of metal.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tinker”. 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 / Middle English tynkere / tinker

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