*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of fower

From Middle English fowere, foware, fowar; equivalent to fow + -er.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

One who cleans (fows), as in cooking utensils or house maintenance.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English fowere, foware, fowar; equivalent to fow + -er.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionfowereenm
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "fowere"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English fowere"
    },
    {
      "name": "suffix",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fow",
        "3": "er",
        "id2": "agent noun"
      },
      "expansion": "fow + -er"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "fowere",
      "fowere#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "foware",
      "foware#English"
    ],
    [
      "fowar",
      "fowar#English"
    ],
    [
      "fow",
      "fow#English"
    ],
    [
      "-er",
      "-er#English:_agent_noun"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "One who cleans (fows), as in cooking utensils or house maintenance."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Early",
        "Modern",
        "obsolete"
      ],
      "recordId": "6c41344e958b0d76424e13d9b7990e06cd9f72205dc524f4d37a833604a1e95c",
      "rawRecordSha256": "03bfa913dfe489d8d2bce955124962c2900ce8d88ee4d01e25a791cb06c6f59f",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 252394
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

The digit 4 in the NATO phonetic alphabet.

num

four

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English four, fower, from Old English fēower.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "four"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English four"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "fēower"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English fēower"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "four",
      "four#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fower",
      "fower#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fēower",
      "feower#Old_English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The digit 4 in the NATO phonetic alphabet."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "recordId": "7234c86f2164f05119aa039a29031d4e219cfbee02689f0f3e38213654e1157f",
      "rawRecordSha256": "ac2b19e3c5605657d7406e141c289d47696f94e8aa84c0ff9dd74d8179d9badd",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 252396
    },
    {
      "pos": "num",
      "glosses": [
        "four"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Geordie"
      ],
      "recordId": "e3ff4c125d84e9f51e03b771ed62223b1839489185e7fa1f3294df7cd6f9a69a",
      "rawRecordSha256": "a2c2745b40920470c53ba701c89eba0b704971c3f5a1164e22d9d6f3bf10786d",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 252395
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for fower →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Zm93ZXI