English
webber
Webber comes from Middle English webbere ‘weaver’, and goes back to web.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500web1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500webben2‘to weave’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500webbere3‘weaver’
- Englishearliest quotation 1878webber3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Middle English webben
- 2 Wiktionary, Middle English webbere
- 3 Wiktionary, English webber
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1878, Norman Allison Calkins, Abby Morton Diaz: “All the Swimmers are webbers.”.
Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500webWiktionary, Middle English webben
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500webbenWiktionary, Middle English webbere‘to weave’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500webbereWiktionary, English webber‘weaver’
- Englishearliest quotation 1878webberWiktionary, English webber. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1878, Norman Allison Calkins, Abby Morton Diaz: “All the Swimmers are webbers.”
Formed from web + -er
Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- ‘to weave, braid’
…
Proto-Germanic *wabją ‘something woven; web’
Proto-West Germanic *wabi ‘something woven; web’
Old English webb ‘web’
Middle English web ‘woven fabric’
English web
Linked words
through Middle English web
Today it means
noun An animal that creates webs, such as a spider.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “webber”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle English webben, Middle English webbere. 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 web / webber