English word origin

Etymology of ower

From Middle English owere, oȝere, awer, equivalent to owe + -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

A person who owes something, especially money.

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

From Middle English owere, oȝere, awer, equivalent to owe + -er.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Inherited-form mentionowereenm

Inspect preserved source fields

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

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "owere"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English owere"
    },
    {
      "name": "suf",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "owe",
        "3": "er",
        "id2": "agent noun"
      },
      "expansion": "owe + -er"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "owere",
      "owere#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "oȝere",
      "oȝere#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "awer",
      "awer#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "owe",
      "owe#English"
    ],
    [
      "-er",
      "-er#English:_agent_noun"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
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        "A person who owes something, especially money."
      ],
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

adj

overly, too

adv

over

prep

over

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

From Middle English ower, a variant of Middle English over. Compare Scots ower (“over”), English o'er (“over”). More at over.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

Inherited-form mentionowerenm
Cognate mentionoverenm
Cognate mentionowersco · over
Cognate mentiono'eren · over

Inspect preserved source fields

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

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        "3": "ower"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English ower"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "over"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English over"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "ower",
        "t": "over"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots ower (“over”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "o'er",
        "t": "over"
      },
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    }
  ],
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      "ower",
      "ower#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "over",
      "over#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "ower",
      "ower#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "o'er",
      "o'er#English"
    ],
    [
      "over",
      "over#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "overly, too"
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "not-comparable"
      ],
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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 ower →

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-b3dlcg